The Federal Aviation Administration is still working on how best to regulate drones in the United States. One thing’s for sure: they shouldn’t be flown around airports.
According to the Toronto Star, two people were injured Monday when a Porter Airlines plane approaching Toronto performed evasive action to avoid an object that may have been a drone. Two members of the cabin crew suffered minor injuries and were taken to a hospital, while none of the 54 passengers were injured. The incident was still being investigated as of Tuesday.
According to the report, the plane, a twin-engine turboprop, was flying 9,000 feet over Lake Ontario at around 7:30 a.m. local time when the pilots spotted a small object that seemed to be on a collision course with the plane. At first, they thought it was a balloon. After debriefing with Porter, the pilots concluded that it may in fact have been a drone flying in a location it should not have been.
Unmanned aerial vehicles like drones cannot be flown within 9 kilometers (5.5 miles) of an airport, according to Transport Canada’s initial rules.
The incident is being investigated by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, which dispatched two investigators to determine whether the object was a drone.
The FAA has released an infographic about the do’s and don’ts of noncommercial drone operation.
Filed Under: Aerospace + defense
