Any and all information I post will be obtained through open source materials, and any views or opinions expressed will be my own.
So the picture above is a drone falling out of the sky and damaging a static car, its just a broken window screen you may say, but imagine driving 60Mph down a road and you see a drone coming towards you, think of the potential damage that could cause.
On the 15th November 2021 some time after 1200 a drone was reported flying low over the Queensferry crossing towards on coming traffic, lucky the driver of the vehicle was able to identify the threat to himself and the drone struck the vehicle on the side. Luckily from reports the incident didn't create any casualties, and the drone was removed by Incident Support shortly after. Currently the type of drone involved has yet to be released, it will be good to see how the authorities handle this. As things progress I will endeavor to update this post.
On reading the news reports its states 'drones should not be flown closer than 50m to people, buildings, or vehicles, according to the Civil Aviation Authority' which is true but the rule they state is for drones currently over 250g in weight and people with the correct qualifications. If the person had no drone qualifications and the drone was over the 250g limit they would have to be a minimum of 150m away from everything flying in the A3 class. If the drone being flown was under the 250g limit even without qualifications a pilot has more free reign to do as they wish, but that being said you should always fly responsibly, check the area for permissions required prior to flight and ensure you fly in away that doesn't endanger yourself or others. Where you can fly drones | UK Civil Aviation Authority (caa.co.uk)
Any and all information I post will be obtained through open source materials, and any views or opinions expressed will be my own.
Whether this was a novice hobbyist pilot who didn't understand the rules, someone thinking they could bend the rules, or someone quite clearly breaking the rules it highlights major issues, and could have caused a large scale accident on a very busy road. If you go on the CAA website ( Airspace restrictions for unmanned aircraft and drones | UK Civil Aviation Authority (caa.co.uk) ) and look at restrictions there is nothing to say you can't fly in that area. But if you use the Drone Assist app it shows the area is covered by Edinburgh CTR. Surely a former NATs online app should be the same as the CAAs website.
Until the drone type has been released an outsider looking in can only speculate. Potentially if incidents like this start happening more regularly it could mean increasing restrictions on all types of drones, of all classes for anyone without the correct permissions and qualifications.
Any and all information I post will be obtained through open source materials, and any views or opinions expressed will be my own.