Aircraft regulator wants to enlist Kiwi kids to push drone safety message

In April and May the Civil Aviation Authority received 92 reports of incidents and complaints about drones, of which four were near-collisions. Photo / 123RF

The Civil Aviation Authority wants to enlist schoolchildren to help spread the message of safety with drones to adult users, in the face of a rapidly rising number of near misses with planes.

The Ministry of Education supports the idea.

As the use of drones has increased, so have the number of reports made to the CAA.

Last year more than 300 incidents were reported involving drones in close proximity to other aircraft, near aerodromes without permission, and in a controlled airspace without clearance from Air Traffic Control. This was up by more than half from 2016 and more than double the number in 2015.

"In terms of aviation safety, these types of incidents are of high concern and breach [the Civil Aviation] Rule Part 101," the authority says.

Commercial and military flights have repeatedly been affected this year after pilots reported seeing drones. Two sightings were near Auckland Airport.

This week, an authority spokeswoman told the Herald on Sunday: "In April and May 2018 CAA received 92 reported incidents and complaints about drones. Four of these reported incidents were near-collision incidents."

A survey for the CAA last year indicated some 280,000 New Zealanders use drones. It was estimated six per cent of visitors aged 15 or older from overseas - which would equate to nearly 200,000 people a year - flies a drone here.

Nearly a quarter of the Kiwis and the foreign visitors said they weren't aware there are rules on drone use in New Zealand.

The CAA told MPs last month it had completed 28 regulatory actions against drone operators: nine involved a written warning, 18 an infringement notice and fine, and one a prosecution.

The spokeswoman said that since that data was extracted, one warning and an infringement notice had been issued and three investigations were in train.

The authority asks drone vendors to place its leaflet on safe and lawful use of the machines beside them on shop shelves.

It has approached Air New Zealand - which wants tougher regulatory action - about making an inflight video on drones to show to arriving travellers. It is working with airports to place signs on perimeter fences, and with Customs to place information cards at arrival halls.

And it wants intermediate schools to teach students about safe use of drones, also called unmanned aerial systems (UAS). This could include students producing educational video clips for a nationwide competition.

"This could be effective given the typical New Zealand UAS user is more likely than not to have school-aged children in their household."

The CAA spokeswoman said the authority was at an early stage of its work with schools and other parties on its ideas about spreading the drone-safety message.

Ellen MacGregor-Reid, the Ministry of Education's deputy secretary for early learning and student achievement, said, "As technology is a required learning area in years 1-10, the topic of drone safety can be a good fit for students in intermediate school."

Auckland Primary Principals' Association vice president Craig Holt, whose group includes intermediate school principals, said the authority's plan to target schoolchildren was a good one educationally, but he doubted schools could find the time.

"There are a lot of pressures on the curriculum as it is. Maybe to add an aspect like that, it's challenging to fit those sorts of things in.

"However ,I would challenge, at primary to intermediate age, whether children would have the ability to influence those decisions made by the adults at home."