Good morning. Thank you for this opportunity to present to you.
My name is Stephen Wilcox. I'm the airport manager at the Oshawa Executive Airport and a commercial pilot. I also serve as the vice-president of the Airport Management Council of Ontario, and I have been on its board since 2007.
Today I am here representing the Canadian Airports Council. CAC has 50 members and represents over 100 airports across Canada. I am here today because we have a deep concern with the proliferation of UAVs operating in and around airspace. The UAV, the drone you see in front of me here on my desk, was picked up off the departure end of our active runway less than two months ago.
We understand that the Government of Canada is working on new regulations for UAVs, which is something we have been advocating for. As airports, we have a vested interest in how UAVs are introduced into airport traffic, as we'll need to invest in the infrastructure to support them. To this end, we need to be included in the planning and preparation of regulations and standards for their development and operation.
Transport Canada currently stipulates for safety purposes that operators not fly their UAVs within at least nine kilometres—that's five miles—from an airport or aerodrome, in order to remain clear of manned aircraft and most control zones. All aerodromes should be considered “no drone zones” if an operator does not have permission from Transport Canada or the airport operator.
What has CAC done? CAC wrote a letter to Minister Garneau a year ago. It was co-signed by a coalition of over a dozen associations in Canada. This included the Air Transportation Association of Canada, the Helicopter Association of Canada, and a number of provincial aviation councils.
We wrote about the need for a comprehensive regulatory framework for the safe and efficient operation of UAVs. It's important that this framework promote the safety of all aircraft sharing the national airspace system. Safe skies can only be ensured through comprehensive aircraft performance standards, compliant and compatible equipment, and standardized operating procedures, so that UAVs can be seen by pilots in their aircraft and by controllers on their displays.
At present, there is a limited coordination among the regulator, airspace operator, and enforcement agencies. Enforcement agencies currently lack clear regulations to enforce. Airports already serve a coordinating role in their communities. They are a recipient for complaints from aircraft noise as well as UAVs. In particular, we believe airports can assist the Government of Canada with the regulations it is developing so that all concerns are addressed. Airports have already done some work to raise awareness of the need to keep UAVs out of the airspace.
Last June we joined Minister Garneau for the launch of the national safety campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of UAVs. The minister unveiled the “no drone zone” sign to remind users to operate only in approved areas.
The no-drone signs were distributed to federally operated airports to promote the safe operation of drones. The signs were then further distributed across our various networks to multiple airports in Canada. Many have since posted the no-drone signs at and around their airports.
While these signs help deter users, we respectfully suggest that there should be an even greater effort by the Government of Canada to educate distributors, retailers, and purchasers of UAVs on the requirements and responsibilities of owning these aircraft systems.
Linking all of these aircraft with their owners through a registration and marking process is important for accountability and to facilitate the reporting of defects and operational difficulties. In this way, the UAV owner and operator can be held accountable for his or her operation of the aircraft. Without an identification process, the owner of the UAV could simply leave the scene of an accident or an incident and avoid any responsibility for his or her behaviour.
We expect UAVs to become increasingly common in our airspace, and it's imperative that we keep Canada's airspace safe.
Another primary issue related to this is runaway, uncontrolled drones. We need to have a process to deal with that. Again, here is a great example on my desk this morning. We had no ability to speak with the operator so that he could understand what he may or may not have been doing correctly.
I thank you this morning. I'm pleased to take any questions you may have.