European Aviation Safety Agency sets up drone safety taskforce

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has created a task force to assess the risk of a collision between unmanned drones and aircraft.

The taskforce will review all relevant occurrences reported within European member states and analyse existing studies on the subject of impact between drones and aircraft. The body will also study the vulnerabilities of aircraft windshields, engines and airframe accounting for different categories of aircraft and their “design and operational requirements”. It will also consider further research and look into the possibility of conducting tests to examine the vulnerability of aircraft.

EASA will chair the task force that will include representatives of aircraft and engine manufacturers. The task force will consult the European member states and other relevant stakeholders as well as foreign authorities.
At the end of July EASA will publish its results and will organise a workshop with stakeholders to present and discuss its findings and recommendations.

In a statement EASA said: “The regulatory framework for the safe operations of drones in Europe currently being developed by EASA already addresses the issue of collision between drones and aeroplanes.

“A combination of measures are envisaged such as: operate in visual line of sight, fly under 150-metre height above ground, be equipped with identification and geo-limitation functions and be registered. Any operation of drones close to aerodromes would require a specific authorisation from the national aviation authority based on a risk assessment.”