26 Jul 2017
UK attractions may need a licence to experiment with drones
BY Ben Coxon
Organisations in the UK attractions industry may need to apply for a licence if they wish to use drone technology.
Large attractions operators such as Disney, Puy du Fou and Universal are all experimenting with drones for light shows and creating virtual reality.
If UK attractions wish to follow suit they may be required to go through a new registration process meaning drone pilots would have to complete a safety course before they could legally operate such devices.
The Civil Aviation Authority investigated 22 incidents involving commercial airliners and drones between January and April 2017, with calls from pilots union Balpa for greater regulation of drone usage.
In response to these calls, the planned British legislation would force all operators to register drones weighing more than 250g, with users then required to take a safety awareness training course to prove that they understand UK safety, security and privacy regulations.
Mainstream usage of drone technology has led to increased scrutiny following a growing number of accidents and incidents involving the technology across North America and Europe. In the US and Canada, tougher laws over the use of drones were introduced, but in both countries changes were softened due to public and legal pushback.
Disney, Puy du Fou and Universal are all looking into the use of drone swarms – consisting of hundreds of drones remotely controlled from one computer system – with the aim to create night-time light shows, where drones fly in formation to create shapes in the sky.
Disney put this into practise at Disney Springs resort last December, where they put on a show using 300 Intel Shooting Star drones to create shapes inspired by the festive season to a soundtrack of Christmas songs. Puy du Fou has been using drones since 2015 for the park’s flagship show Cinéscénie, which is one of the world’s largest night shows.
Now Universal are looking to enter the field, having filed a patent for the use of drones at its theme park in the US.
In addition to new registration laws, the UK government is also planning to bring in age restrictions and extend the use of geo-fencing, where drones have in-built no-fly zones around restricted areas, such as prisons and airports.
In a statement, the air traffic control authority said the government should maximise the effectiveness of the proposed rules by introducing further measures, such as electronic identification to help authorities see where drones are flying.
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