BLAKE FODEN
Invercargill is missing out on promotional opportunities because of strict rules around flying drones, a broadcaster says.
Jason Gutteridge landed himself in hot water with the Civil Aviation Authority after footage he shot above Oreti Park Speedway for a weekly speedway programme on Face TV – SKY channel 83 – was deemed illegal.
The area is a no-operation zone because it is used by aeroplane pilots for low-flying practice.
“We’ve got New Zealand’s largest motorsport park and you can’t fly a drone there. They’re the way of the future,” Gutteridge said.
“Is it right that we’ve got a multi-million dollar broadcast truck to showcase this area where there’s so much going on, but we can’t show it to its full potential?
“Surely it’s easier to move a low-flying zone than a motorsport park.”
Gutteridge questioned why the low-flying zone would be designated over the popular recreational area at Sandy Point.
The deaths of 11 people in a plane crash during a UK air show last month showed it was not safe to be doing training in those areas, he said.
He also believed more education was needed on the rules around operating drones.
Venture Southland tourism digital marketer Dan Burt said the agency planned to work with Airways – who managed airspace for the CAA – to see whether the no-operation zone could be moved.
They were looking at having it over farmland near Riverton, he said.
“It’s something we would really like to consider changing,” Burt said.
“It would give us leverage to show off some really cool parts of the region and cool events like the Burt Munro Challenge.
“The angle and perspective you can give from up there is unparalleled in terms of how we can showcase our region and what’s going on in it.”
Burt said he understood the low-flying zone had been in place for at least seven years.
“Now that this kind of technology is around it’s something that needs to be looked at.”
When asked for a response to Gutteridge’s concerns, a CAA spokesman emailed a response but did not address the potential for the low-flying zone to be moved.
The zone was in a controlled airspace that was on a final approach for some air traffic flying to the Invercargill airport, and even if it did not exist, anyone wanting to fly above the speedway would still need permission from Air Traffic Control, the spokesman said.
Gutteridge had shown “wilful non-compliance” and had been told several times by the local Air Traffic Control unit that he could not operate his aircraft in the area, they said.
Gutteridge admitted he knew the rules when he flew on that occasion, for which he was fined $1000, but said he was unaware of them when he received his first fine of $500 for flying within 4km of the Invercargill airport.
He was also fined $1000 for flying at Riverside Speedway, which is outside the 4km airport zone but within the low-flying area, which he said he was not aware of at the time.
“I deserved the fines and I should have checked the rules, but surely education is better than just heavy-handed fines,” Gutteridge said.
“Once I knew, I worked really hard to become compliant and make sure other people were compliant too.”