Strat Aero PLC (LON:AERO) Chief Executive Officer Tony Dunleavy caught up with DirectorsTalk for an exclusive interview to discuss the risk of toy drones and what the industry can do to minimise those risks
Q1: Bloomberg carried a report the other day that stated toy drones post more risks to planes than birds and that was based on a study by Texan aviation business, Aero Kinetics. Do you think this is a real risk?
A1: Yes, absolutely. It’s clearly a major issue for the embryonic drone industry, especially for regulators. Everybody’s worst nightmare is a major event with an aircraft, that’s why the industry needs to develop along professional aviation standards. Toy drones are not the same as unmanned aircraft, Strat Aero recognises and embraces the difference is committed to safe and efficient operations of unmanned aircraft so yes, we’d agree with that.
Q2: What can the regulators do about it?
A2: Well it’s clearly a very difficult area for them, that’s why the leading regulators in the world, such as CAA here in the UK and the FAA in the USA have to take the time to develop long-term regulations that will balance all important safety issues with a framework that allows the commercial industry to develop and prosper. We see in the USA, as an example, that the FAA has developed the pathfinder program whereby it’s working alongside professional industry participants to develop practical frameworks for commercial use. The bigger problem for the authorities will be how to rein in and control less professional operators and toy drone type users.
Q3: Now, Aero Kinetics’ Chairman and Chief Executive W. Hulsey Smith said in an interview that the company wanted to use mathematical models to predict what would happen in drone collisions. Now the company is looking for partners to help it perform actual impact tests, he said. What can the industry do to minimise these risks?
A3: Yes, I agree with the approach being taken by Aero Kinetics, the professional side of the industry needs to work alongside the regulators to help them in this very difficult task and without acknowledging the risks, industry as a whole kind of come together to find real solutions to prevent drone strikes. We saw an example of this with Strat Aero ourselves just last week, when we announced that our USA affiliate, ETV in New Mexico, has signed up to become a member of the working group set up by NASA to work out best how to manage traffic flows in airspace, if you can imagine future highways in the sky as it were. So yes, in summary, the more professional side of this industry needs to play a strong supporting role to enable the regulators to achieve their difficult goals.
