Transport committee  The first step in the equation is to notify the aircraft and the pilots that there is in fact a drone there. We do that every day for birds and other obstacles that appear at airports. We have a NOTAM process, a notice to airmen that can be immediately disseminated to the aircraf

Transport committee  The technology is great, and we should make the regulations performance-based so we don't limit what technology can do. A great example would be requiring a performance-based standard in all of them so that as the unit begins to lose signal, before it loses signal, or immediatel

Transport committee  We've come a long way since the Wright brothers' airplane here in the U.S., and we have the International Civil Aviation Authority, which is tasked with creating regulations on an international basis. Its head office is in Montreal, and that's because Canada was one of the initia

Transport committee  Currently that is the policy that Transport Canada is applying to the operation of drones, but there are no drones—that is, zero drones—within nine kilometres of an airport or an aerodrome. You will recognize that an aerodrome can be a farmer with his airplane in the field or Tor

Transport committee  Today in Canada we have a national radar system that supports most of the busier airspace in Canada. Anywhere that airspace exists, the drones could be equipped with what's called transponder technology. It's what the aircraft have, and it's why the aircraft are visible on the ra

Transport committee  We did the initial information piece on the no-fly drone signs that went up around airports. Getting some basic information out somehow at the point of sale, either in the packaging, at least with the existing ones, would be a very good start. That's what we need to look at with

Transport committee  We already have a national system for registering aircraft in Canada that Transport Canada administers. The most direct process is to drop this into a streamlined process within Transport Canada's national registry, because, again, it is a national issue. Airspace is the purview

Transport committee  The drone itself is an aircraft. It's going to be operating in the airspace with aircraft, and we already have a series of very good guidelines to demonstrate how we operate aircraft. First we need design standards. I realize the technology is evolving, but I believe we could es

Transport committee  Thank you for that question. There are a number of technologies to, shall we say, defend ourselves from drones at airports. Geofencing is one method, although my understanding is that it is possible to override the software that essentially creates the geofencing. There's also s

Transport committee  I'd have to say today it's a lack of information. You can go to virtually any big box store online and buy a drone, and there's virtually no information that comes with that package, or only limited information. I think the biggest issue is a lack of awareness and carrying the

Transport committee  Within airports we have a system called the safety management system. Essentially we write down everything we do, we do everything we write down, and we track absolutely everything that occurs, so the answer is yes, we have a record of all inquiries. We have a record of any issue

Transport committee  What I would like to do is assemble that data looking at the airports across Canada. I think we can reach out to the public airports and see what issues they've had so that you get a comprehensive picture, recognizing again that this is a new field and that the data may vary.

Transport committee  Certainly we can make that available to you.

Transport committee  Unfortunately, I do not have a copy of the response, as I was not part of the committee that submitted the letter.

Transport committee  Does that help? It's not a large drone, but if we remember our high school math, there was something to do with velocity and energy and mass, and you can imagine something this small hitting an aircraft at 200-plus miles an hour.