Ready and waiting

Between December 19-21, 2018, Gatwick Airport was plagued by drones flying into controlled airspace. Some 1,000 flights had to be cancelled, inconveniencing 140,000 passengers. Luckily, there were no collisions. The airport authorities asked the Royal Air Force to deploy anti-drone equipment. 

The two busiest British airports, Gatwick and Heathrow, have since spent millions of pounds, buying anti-drone systems to stop this happening again. The police are investigating to try and find the perpetrators. 

Drones are a classic example of technology overtaking regulation and this problem will likely recur. Many different drone models are available off the shelf at reasonable prices. A teenager could save up her pocket money and build a working drone with off-the-shelf components. No new infrastructure is necessary — you need only dry cells, or lighter fluid, and remotes.   

There is no way to restrict such cheap ubiquitous technology. Even highly authoritarian governments like China have not tried. There are multiple drone use-cases for businesses and hobbyists, and for civilian government purposes. 

For example, Geographical Information Systems use drones for mapping. Municipal agencies survey power lines, sewage systems and buildings. Crop spraying is done via drones. Japan used drones to assess damage in and around the Fukushima nuclear plant after the tsunami. Drones have been used in California, to fight forest fires,spraying water. 

Other potential uses include package and food delivery. More ambitiously, short-range air taxi services (50 prototype air-taxies exist and Uber has a drone division) and emergency air-ambulance services could develop. 

There are also multiple uses for military and security agencies. These range from surveillance, to tear-gas spraying on crowds, to missile and bomb delivery. There are unconfirmed reports that India's defence establishment is committed to R&D for developing 40 different kinds of drones!

The SESAR (Single European Sky Air Traffic Management Research) — a publicly funded EU think-tank says that drones could contribute 10 percent of the EU's aviation market by 2050, worth ¤€15 billion a year and creating about 150,000 jobs.America’s FAA(Federal Aviation Administration) estimates Americans will own 4 million civilian drones by 2022.  

Some dangers are obvious. In 2018, the number of dangerous incidents when civilian drones put passenger flights at risk shot up 168 per cent. Drones could also be used by terrorists to bomb targets and carry out assassinations. Explosive drones are said to have been used to attempt the assassination of Venezuela's president, Nicolas Maduro, and also supposedly, to attack Abu Dhabi airport. 

Gatwick’s “Dronegate” shows how easily one of the First World's busiest airports could be shut down just by flying drones into critical airspace. An automatic rifle like the AR15 costs upwards of $700 in places where it can be legally bought. A drone, which could potentially be more lethal, if loaded with an improvised explosive device, can be bought off the shelf for less than half that. 

Regulating effectively, to allow for legitimate use, while minimising chances of accidental disaster, or deliberate misuse, is hard. Regulators are drafting rules, which will inevitably need updation as usage grows and technology improves. 

India is one of many countries which has hastily updated its drone regulations.  From December 1, 2018, the government bit the bullet and allowed for more liberal use of drones. Unfortunately some of the “liberalised” regulations still seem unrealistic. 

Globally, drone regulation runs on similar lines. There are restrictions on weight, and operator licences and registrations of drones are required to fly drones above a certain weight. There are restrictions on flying height and speed. No-go zones are notified. 

In most nations, drones cannot be flown at above 120-125 meters. In most places, maximum permitted speed is 150-175 km/hr. Night flights are usually not permitted. Above all, there is a line of sight restriction — drones cannot be flown outside the operator's line of sight. 

Indian regulations are very restrictive. Where US civilian drones have a no-licence limit of under 25 kg, in India, registration is required if the drone is over 250 gm and operator licences are also required. Drones can't be flown at over 200 feet (60 meters). Every flight must be cleared by a “No Permission, No take off” app and local police stations informed (this can apparently be done via the Digital Sky Platform on the DGCA website).  Foreigners can’t operate drones. Nor can any non-adult. 

High traffic airports have a 5 km buffer no-go zone, while smaller airports have a 3 km buffer. Drones cannot fly within 25 km of international borders, (including Line of Control and Line of Actual Control). A 5-km radius of Delhi's Vijay Chowk is a no-go zone. Other sensitive locations have a 2-3 km buffer — this includes state legislative assemblies, and secretariats. In addition, drones can’t be flown from mobile platform like from a car, ship or aircraft.

These regulations are going to be hard to enforce. Some will be flouted with the same insouciance that Indian drivers use when jumping traffic lights.It's unknown how “hack-proof” the apps are. But they give us a sense of where regulation is going. Drones are already commonplace at Indian society weddings. Let’s see how long it is before ambulance services and Uber Elevate launches.

THE DRONE PLAYBOOK

Drones Laws in India 

• All drones above 250 gm (0.25 kg) must be registered, with a unique ID number
• Maximum weight without drone registration: Nano drones under 250 gm (0.25 kg)
• Maximum weight without operator permit:  Under 2 kg 
• Maximum height without permit: Under 50 feet (for Nano). Under 200 feet for under 2 kg

Other rules 

• Flight may only be conducted during the daytime or within well-lit indoor premises
• The operator must maintain visual line of sight
• A remote pilot may operate only one drone 
• Payloads may not consist of humans, animals or hazardous objects
• Drones may not operate within 5 km of the perimeters of the airports in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad and within 3 km from the perimeter of any other airport.
• Drones may not operate within 25 km of international border
• Drone operations must stay within 500 metres of shore, over the sea
• Drones may not operate within 3 km of military bases
• The operator must be stationary, not in a moving car, aircraft or boat
• National Parks and Sanctuaries are off-limits (permission to fly may be granted)