Expert available on the impact of new federal regulations on use of drones
TORONTO, Jan. 9, 2019 –In an effort to crack down on the use of drones in Canadian airspace, the federal government today announced strict new regulations to prohibit the operation of drones in a manner that could endanger others or aviation safety.
Some of the biggest additions are the requirement of pilot certificates, regulations on the weight of drones, who can operate them, where they can fly and what they can carry.
These new regulations come just weeks after drones wreaked havoc on London’s second busiest airport, Gatwick, in December, disrupting airspace and causing approximately 1,000 flights to be cancelled.
Costas Armenakis, Lassonde School of Engineering
Costas Armenakis, associate professor of geomatics engineering at the Lassonde School of Engineering at York University, is available to comment on the impact these new regulations will have overall on users and in the area of research. He has over 35 years of research experience in photogrammetry, remote sensing, mapping and GIS, working on the acquisition, handling, processing and management of geo-spatial data and information from terrestrial, aerial and space-borne mapping sensors. His research interests are in the areas of photogrammetric engineering and remote sensing mapping, focusing on the unmanned mobile sensing and mapping systems and the use of unmanned aerial vehicle systems for geomatics and other applications.
He can comment on:
- Gaps which previously existed and currently exist on drone use, training, managing risk
- How new regulations impact regulators to detect and monitor the small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (drone or UAV) platforms in the sky, particularly in controlled air space, and the ability to identify the owner of a UAV
- How rules for flying UAV for work and /or research vary
- How the new rules from Transport Canada could help unify regulations for all users
- Restrictions on weight
- Recreational use versus non-recreational use and impact of regulations
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Media Contact:
Anjum Nayyar, York University Media Relations, 416-736-2100 ext. 44543, anayyar@yorku.ca
