Drone Safety Guidelines a rallying call for the industry
There is a need for tighter drone safety guidelines
Clearer Drone Safety Guidelines are Needed skeeze / Pixabay
As we have noted previously when we published our thoughts on hobbyist drone guidelines, it is more important than ever for us to formalize, as an industry, acceptable and safe behavior. Drone safety guidelines, as part of hobbyist drone guidelines, will increase the public’s comfort with the entire unmanned industry and result in broader adoption.
This article, in National Defense Magazine, discusses the fact that the industry is rallying around the need for drone safety guidelines.
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“When a DJI Phantom drone crashed into the lawn of the White House in February, it highlighted what some fear may be a trend of unmanned aerial vehicle-related accidents.
A number of these incidents have been blamed on reckless operators. In the White House crash, the pilot was intoxicated and lost control of the UAV.
It’s that type of “inappropriate” behavior that many in the aviation industry want to stop, and believe they can alleviate through educational initiatives.
Earlier this year, the Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International spearheaded an effort along with the Academy of Model Aeronautics and the Small UAV Coalition to better inform unmanned aerial system operators of how to fly drones responsibly.
The “Know Before You Fly” campaign was launched in late November and has since been making strides in putting the word out about safe UAV operation, said AUVSI president and CEO Brian Wynne.
“It has been a very important initiative for the community because there are a lot of folks … that are flying UAS that are not aviation people,” Wynne said. “They need to be given a slightly better awareness of the fact that above them is airspace that may be restricted or might be prohibited and we want to make sure they are flying in the right place and they are flying responsibly.”
Better educating users will be critical to stymieing irresponsible flying. Often, Wynne said, users are unaware that they are doing anything wrong. That’s why the campaign reached out to various UAV manufacturers and convinced them to include specially prepared literature that lays out the do’s and don’ts of UAV safety in their packaging.”
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