AsBAA Safety Day 2017 Sponsored by

Transcription

1 AsBAA Safety Day 2017 Sponsored by

2 When drones meets jets it means business! Michael Portier, To70 Aviation Consulting (Singapore) Pte.Ltd. AsBAA Safety Seminar, The Fullerton Hotel, Singapore 16 June 2017

3 Setting the scene: close encounters Video from NBC News, 10 February 2017

4 Table of Contents Trends in UAV area and characteristics of drone regulations Drone encounters: let s dive into the numbers Common ATC procedures during a drone encounter Detection technologies Possible countermeasures Which issues are ANSPs/CAAs facing? Recommendations for AsBAA

5 Trends in the Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) area Rapid technology development improving the quality of drones Numbers of drones sold are rising, all over world Commercial applications of drones are increasing Companies see the benefits of using drones instead of human resources Prices of (hobby) drones are falling Available (almost) everywhere Little to no regulation requirements The SKY is the limit!! New and more regulations Increasing drone incidents (nonsafety like privacy) Safety related incidents in various modes of transport, especially manned air traffic Terror acts, causing authorities to raise security threat concerns Rise of counter-uav/uas industry focusing on: Detection technologies Countermeasures to take down the drone

6 Characteristics of drone regulations Operator permit/license and activity/operations permit; Operate within visual line-of-sight (VLOS), max distance 500m; Day-time operations, special request for night operations; Max altitude (depending on the country, varying from m); Weight of the drone incl. payload (new regulations show a min weight of 250 grams); (Endangering the safety of manned aircraft is a criminal offence); No interference with first responders (police, medical teams, fire fighters); No flying over sensitive areas (military bases, government properties); Do not overfly crowds, built-up areas, residences; Do not fly within X km from an airport/airbase (X varies from 5-9km) Private/recreational users do not need a license/permit.

7 Important assumptions Focus on civilian UAS, which are operated within visual line-of-sight (VLOS); Military UAS are excluded; Operators of commercial drones are trained and know where the restricted airspaces are; When a drone flies into unauthorised airspace, then this action is considered unintentionally, so there is no malicious intent; If there is a malicious intent, then the situation turns into a criminal offence and/or act of terrorism; Enforcement of UAS regulations is a task for law enforcement officers (police and/or other government agencies).

8 Drone sighting reports (per country) Country United States of America 1218 ~1800 Canada 97 (Nov 2015 Dec 2016) 355 United Kingdom Germany The Netherlands PR China 4 23 Singapore (Apr 2014 Oct 2016) more than 20 Remarks Numbers refer to sightings of unauthorised drone flights interfering with manned air traffic. So they comprise more than just commercial scheduled air traffic to/from an airport. For example: helicopters, military transport aircraft, general aviation. Not all reports have resulted in finding a drone or its operator; The Singapore number also includes two drones crashing on MRT tracks in 2015.

9 Drone sightings at (major) airports Apr June 2016 July Sep 2016 United States of America Los Angeles San Francisco 7 3 Dallas / Fort Worth 12 9 Chicago Atlanta 11 2 New York (incl. Newark) United Kingdom Heathrow 7 25 Gatwick 1 4 London City 2 2 Stansted 1 2 Germany Frankfurt 2 16 The Netherlands Amsterdam 1 ~20

10 Brief analysis of the sightings Mostly pilot reports mentioning close proximity with the aircraft; The police is not always able to find a drone and/or its operator; Aviation authorities have not found any evidence where airplanes have collided against drones and/or where manned aircraft accidents are attributed to a drone; In Germany and The Netherlands, drones have obstructed medical helicopters; In case the drone operator has been caught, he/she is fined for unauthorised flying of a drone and/or endangering manned air traffic (with fines up to several hundreds of EUR/USD); For example: from the 96 sighting reports in 2016 in NL: 38 police reports were filed, out of which 23 resulted in fines and 11 cases appeared in court of law. Drones involved were usually confiscated. Separate from airport surrounding and countermeasures: drones have crashed on cars and houses causing material damage.

11 Extreme examples of airport disruption Dubai International Airport Authorities in Dubai decided to close the airport due to unauthorised drone activity. 29 Oct 2016: closure for 1 hr 24 min and 22 flights diverted 28 Sep 2016: closure for 27 min during morning peak hour. June 216: closure for 69 min Dubai CAA estimated the cost of air traffic disruptions at AED 1 million per minute (based on an airport closure in January 2015 for 55 min amounting up to AED 55 million) Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport 12 May 2017, between pm and pm 40 flights diverted, 60 flights cancelled and 140 flights delayed

12 Common ATC procedures during a drone encounter It starts with a pilot who claims to have seen a drone and reports this to Air Traffic Control; The ATCO logs the time, location and altitude of the drone encounter, Announce the drone sighting on RT to inform neighbouring aircraft; Supervisor/ATC Watch Manager reports it to the police; Occasionally, aircraft are re-routed to avoid the area; Problem of detection and enforcement: When the police responds, it can take half an hour or longer before the police arrives on location and gives feedback, because: ATC cannot always pin-point the drone location (the ATCO radar screen doesn t show a map) The nearest police officer has to drive on roads to the location and cannot simply ride according to a straight line on a map The police officer has to visually detect the drone and search for the operator

13 Detection technologies Customised radar technology and signal processing e.g. RobinRadar Holographic radar e.g. Aveillant Networked array of Acoustic Multi-Mission Sensors (AMMS) e.g. MicroFlown AVISA Triangulation of radio control signals to locate both the drone and its operator e.g. CACI, Teleradio Combination of radar, Electro Optic tracking, infrared camera e.g. GryphonSensors, Liteye, Rheinmetall Combination of sensors: cameras, acoustics, Wi-Fi signal detectors, radio frequency (RF) scanners e.g. DeDrone

14 Challenges on deploying detection technologies Drones usually fly low and depending on the terrain, they re not always easy to detect because of their size; It s not about the area within the airport fence, but several kilometres away from it. What should be the detection distance? Airport surrounding also plays an important role: The size may determine the number of sensors required to cover the area The terrain and built-up areas surrounding the airport (e.g. reflection) Interference with air traffic management and/or airport systems Accessibility through roads and the location(s) of the police response team to trace the drone operator System provider must demonstrate its capabilities at that specific airport surrounding, which takes time; The cost of deploying equipment versus the actual safety threat for civil aviation. Who has to pay? The discussion about cost becomes different when security is involved and in many countries other government agencies are involved;

15 Possible countermeasures (1/2) Drone with a net and/or a net-gun (e.g. DroneCatcher) includes a parachute option to land the intercepted drone safely; Net-gun: shoulder held, manually operated from the ground (in NL); A real eagle (in NL). All illustrations are from website:

16 Possible countermeasures (2/2) Jam/spoof the radio control signal between drone and operator. The drone loses its control and falls out of the sky Electronically take over control of the drone (e.g. Skydroner) Shooting with Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) gun and/or high-energy laser weapons (both USA) and can only be sold to government agencies Old fashioned shooting with fire arms (in USA) FAA has recently classified this as a crime similar to shooting at manned aircraft. The blue illustrations are from website:

17 Which issues are ANSPs/CAAs facing? (1/2) UAS regulations need to stay updated, however this is a challenge when technological developments move rapidly; The general public needs to be informed about the responsible use of drones. This could be through a dedicated website, mobile app, flyer, etc. Installing detection equipment can be expensive and if such decision would be taken, which airports will be selected? Once a drone is detected, what is the next step to remove the drone from that unauthorised airspace? This requires a Concept of Operations or a Standard Operation Procedure;

18 Which issues are ANSPs/CAAs facing? (2/2) How is law enforcement ensured? If a countermeasure is taken and the drone falls out of the sky, resulting in personal injury or property damage, then who is liable? This may require changes in other type of regulations (non-aviation); A drone flying in unauthorised airspace can pose a threat to aviation safety or even to (public) security. In the latter case, government security agencies need to be involved. This requires a concerted action from the various government organisations.

19 Future trends Compulsory ownership registration of all drones (> 250 grams), combined with tagging the registration number to the drone(s); Stricter rules and combined with a scheme of fines for law enforcement; Endangering manned aircraft will be considered an offence; Authorities assume that the general public develops its own general knowledge on drones through government website and/or mobile app; Future plan: carry a mini transponder for transmitting drone location to an ANSP (several options are being analysed/tested) Authorities can anticipate future developments by analysing the requests for activity/operation permits, like: Night operations Flying over people (media companies) Beyond visual line-of-sight (BVLOS) Flying above restricted altitude

20 Air Traffic Management vs. UAS Traffic Management Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) Airspace design / management (sectors, TRA, holding stacks) Published routes (ATS, SID/STAR) Communication Beyond visual line-of-sight (BVLOS) Designated lower/uncontrolled airspace Low Altitude Authorisation and Notification Capability (LAANC) maps? Integrity of command & control signal Navigation and (ground-based) Surveillance Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B) ATM modernisation programmes SESAR in Europe NextGen in USA Navigation, UAS detection and tracking Mini-transponder on the UAS? UAS Traffic Management is still at infancy stage

21 Recommendations for AsBAA Survey member operators how many drone sightings they have experienced; Maintain a drone sighting list and analyse where the highest numbers occur; Engage the aviation authority to tackle the problem; Advise the authority to focus on informing the general public ( outreach ) Create a dedicated website using layman terms; Mobile app, showing the operator s position and unauthorised airspaces; Info flyer (do s and don t s)

22 Thank you for your attention Questions? Michael Portier Managing Director, To70 Aviation Consulting (Singapore) Pte.Ltd. Mobile:

23 New technology and/or application development Wireless charging powers a drone (video from BBC News, 7 Nov 2016) Drones can fly and swim ( Naviator from Rutgers University (NJ, USA) and Mariner ) Robotised Falcon and Eagle to chase away birds (product from Clear Flight Solutions) Airbus concept drone (Geneva Motorshow 2017)

24 Science-fiction movies as source of inspiration Marvel s The Avengers movie (2012) featuring a flying stealth aircraft carrier