ACU_November 2016 Final Draft

AIRPORTS
a drone is seen will be closed until
authorities have identified its operator
and thoroughly investigated the
matter.
Only the Dubai Police is authorized to
get through the land area underneath
the cordoned off air space says Kamal
Aref Yousef, infrastructure manager for
t h e I n f o r m a t i o n Te c h n o l o g y
Department of the Dubai Civil Aviation
Authority (DCAA).
“For example, a commercial pilot while
flying,” says Yousef, “can report that a
drone is flying next to him which is
wrong. To ensure safety, we need to
close the air space.”
Under the law, a civilian drone can only
operate no higher than 400 feet or 120
meters up in the sky.
The October 29 incident was, thus far,
the longest recorded closure of the
Dubai International Airport, one of the
busiest airports in the world.
Prior to which, it was closed for 70
minutes, 45 minutes or between 25 to
30 minutes, again due to a drone.
Yousef says the sudden closure of the
Dubai airports whenever a drone,
commonly referred to in Civil Aviation
as Remotely Piloted Aircraft System
(RPAS), is a major issue that the agency
wants to address, thus, came up with
the idea of introducing the “Drone
Hunter” project.
The Drone Hunter, which was unveiled
for the first time at GITEX Technology
Week 2016, is equipped with cameras
with special lens, infrared, thermal and
night vision and can fly within a range
of 100 kilometers.
“This drone is a project that is under
further development and study,” says
Yousef about the Drone Hunter which
he described as designed to minimize
the sudden closure of Dubai airports
due to drone activities.
“It can fly within a range 100-km with
special lens, infrared, thermal and
night vision. It can track drone up in the
sky, can identify, follow and locate the
operator,” he told Air Cargo Update.
But due to the heavy weight of all
equipment attached to the machine,
the Drone Hunter can now only fly up
to 90 minutes. Yousef says their goal is
to keep it up in the air for at least three
hours or more.
Licensed to fly
In Dubai, DCAA is the only agency
authorized to license a drone operator.
Kamal Aref Yousef, infrastructure manager for the Information Technology
Department of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA).
M o r e t h a n 3 0 0 m i x t u r e o f
p r o f e s s i o n a l s , h o b b y i s t s a n d
government entities are currently
licensed to operate drones in Dubai.
Yousef explained there are five
categories licensed to fly a drone:
hobbyists, professionals, commercial
use, temporary commercial use and
government entities.
Drone operators are required to
undergo training at a special academy
created by the Dubai Civil Aviation.
“Once the training course is finished or
if the participants think that they are
experienced enough to skip the
training, they will undergo a series of
tests. There is the process of a
simulator test through a computer, a
question and answer tests, then, we
will take them out physically to
examine their maneuvering skills,”
explained Yousef.
Drone operators must renew their
license every year to be able to operate
their machines.
Yousef said the drones must also be
routinely examined for safety reasons.
“We also have special tests for drones.
We're checking the batteries, motors
o f t h e f a n , s i g n a l b a n d w i d t h ,
frequency, among others. Once it
passes all tests, we're going to add a
unique serial number on it with the
name of the owner and the date. It's a
yearly process,” said Yousef.
Once the drones are registered, DCAA
can program their identities in a special
portal where they can track down its
activities, specifically time and
location, for monitoring purposes.
“Once the drone is switched on, I will
immediately get data feed on my
computer and I can track what he is
shooting. If we noticed that he (drone
operator) did something wrong, we
can deal with it with fines,” said Yousef.
If the violation endangered the safety
of the public, the drone operator can
be brought to court for a case.
Drones are not toys
Last April, a drone crashed into an
Airbus A320 approaching Heathrow
Airport. The plane landed safely but
the incident worried civil aviation
experts across the globe enough to
make them come up with possible
solutions.
By May, the US and European airsafety
regulators announced new
policies geared to thwart more drone
activities menacing commercial
flights.
Both entities agreed to create bodies
that will study the impact of drones on
commercial air space specifically on
potential drone collisions with planes,
traditional fixed-wing aircraft and
helicopters.
The study aims to measure the extent
of actual damage from such accidents
to the windshield, engines and
structures of manned vehicles.
The US Federal Aviation Administration
has recorded more than 1,400
drones coming close to planes last
year.
The European Aviation Safety Agency
says the study is crucial to its planned
formal recommendations to address
the civilian use of drones.
Once limited to military use, the sale of
drones is expected to shoot up to 7
million by 2020 with prices falling
sharply.