After a rogue drone grounded firefighting helicopters near Oliver for nearly five hours, the devices are again in the spotlight.
David Carlos owns Victoria Aerial Photos and Survey, a school that trains UAV pilots. He says commercial operators currently need licenses – but so far consumers don’t.
“But it’s coming. I really believe it’s going to come soon. Based on what we’re seeing happen. And, I think everybody … it should be like boating, recreational boating licenses. Even recreational people have to have a basic idea of what they’re doing.”
He says contrary to what some seem to think – the rules around flying them are very clear.
“And it says right there on the ‘don’t fly’ – it says ‘within restrcited airspace, including near or over military bases, prisons, and forest fires. Anywhere there’s a forest fire is restricted airspace, automatically.”
Carlos say Transport Canada does have clear rules about what’s allowed – but catching troublemakers can be tough.
He says incidents like today’s will likely lead to better enforcement.
http://www.cknw.com/2015/08/16/drone-school-owner-says-enforcement-coming-for-bad-operators/