CASA chief John McCormick spoke recently about CASA’s perspective on the deployment of unmanned aircraft systems, although he preferred to refer to them as Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPAs).
McCormick revealed that, as at the end of February, there were 30 certificated operators in Australia operating small remotely piloted aircraft for commercial purposes.
“…the growing number of enquiries we receive on a daily basis suggests that this number will be more than double again within the next 12 months,”he said.
“This rate of growth reinforces to me that safety must remain as our number one priority…”
“As I outlined during my recent interview on the 7.30 Report, approximately 90 per cent of the RPAs operating in Australia today are less than seven kilograms and are relatively inexpensive and easily accessible to individuals through the open market.
“As you would appreciate, due to increasing number and their varied capabilities, it is impossible for CASA to effectively regulate all of them…
“CASA is now looking at introducing a weight limit to make it less onerous, but still safe, for commercial operators to use small remotely piloted aircraft…
“Identifying the commonalities and differences between manned and unmanned aircraft is the first step toward developing a regulatory framework that will provide, at a minimum, an equivalent level of safety for the integration of RPA into non-segregated airspace and at aerodromes…
“As the regulator, we need to develop procedures and processes consistently taking into account the work of ICAO and the leading manufacturers of RPAS from the US, Europe and Asia (and) we need to continually identify training and experience requirements for our inspectors and related staff.”
To read more of John McCormick’s address on RPAs click here.
Source: Aviation Business