[Music] hello my name is ben Lovegrove and in this video i'm going to summarize some of the main points of the UK government's 2018 consultation on the use of drones in UK airspace many drone pilots business owners and hobby fliers are concerned about the proposals so feel free to post any questions or comments below this video and I or someone else will try to respond the consultation ran from the 26th of July to the 17th of September 2018 it received 5061 responses and the results were published on the 7th of January 2019 the UK government wanted to ask what people thought about things like age restrictions and whether the one kilometer flight restriction around protected aerodrome x' is sufficient they also wanted feedback on how drone flying should be policed and what penalties and enforcement notices should be available to the authorities they wanted people's views on the idea of a preflight notification system called Finn's flight information and notification system and they also wanted to discuss counter drone technologies all this was done while keeping in mind the benefits of the drone industry to the UK economy and the potential growth of the industry in the coming years the result of all this is a 97 page document entitled taking flight the future of drones are in the UK and published by the Department of Transport I recommend you read the document in full so that you absorb it directly rather than through my interpretation all I've done in this video is to quote some of the sections that seemed most relevant but you might have other ideas you can view and download it at this address gov dot uk' forward slash government forward slash consultations forward slash drone – legislation – use – restrictions – and – enforcement the document begins with a forward by Baroness sunk the Minister for aviation who says drones and unmanned aircraft present both exciting benefits to society and challenges we must address she briefly mentions the advantages and benefits of UAS but also says drones can also be misused risking safety security and privacy chapter 1 includes an executive summary a definition of a drone our paths and UAS and further definitions and summaries so that the terminology is clear and understood this chapter covers benefits of drones delivering the government's industrial strategy with drones summary of existing legislation on drones tackling drone misuse and raising awareness of the rules and future of regulation chapter 2 discusses the proposal for minimum age requirements at the moment there is no minimum age for anyone piloting a drone although the CAA requires a minimum age of 18 years old for the issue of a PFC Oh permission for commercial operations the document makes the distinction between an sua operator and the remote pilot these distinctions have been formalized in a recent amendment to the ano air navigation order the sua operator is the person who has management of the small unmanned aircraft the remote pilot is the person who operates the controls that fly the small unmanned aircraft it then lists the responsibilities of the sua operator and the remote pilot and includes a proposal for a minimum age requirement for sua operators chapter 3 discusses the restrictions on small drone flights near protected area drones it describes the inner zone of an aerodrome as the area within and including the aerodrome boundary it describes the outer zone as the area extending one kilometer outside the aerodrome boundary under the amendment of the ano that came into effect on the 30th of July 2018 flights of sua are prohibited under these circumstances the sua operator must not cause or permit the sua to be flown and a remote pilot must not fly an sua in the inner zone of an aerodrome outside the hours of watch of the air traffic control unit ATC you or flight information safety unit if is you or if there are no such units at the relevant aerodrome unless permission from the operator of the aerodrome and where the flight is above 400 feet the permission of the CAA has also been obtained if the flight is taking place during the hours of watch of the ATC you or the FRS you permission must be obtained from the ATC you or F is you the sua operator must not calls or permit the sua to be flown and a remote pilot must not fly an sua at any height in the inner or outer zone of an aerodrome during hours of watch of the atcu or FRS you unless permission from the ATC you or F is you has been obtained for flights above 400 feet the permission of the CAA must also be obtained the document then discusses proposals for extending the flight restriction distance to five kilometres but also includes ideas that include steped height restrictions in the vicinity of airports it points out that the CAA will be reviewing the effectiveness of the July 2018 amendment chapter 4 covers the model aircraft flying associations and the impact of drone legislation in this section the review recognizes the differences between model aircraft owners and drone fliers as well as the differences in their operation and control it affirms the organization and best practices of model aircraft clubs and associations chapter 5 is about mandating and/or regulating the use of flight information and notification systems fear for certain drone activities and users it includes this description in line with this the proposals being considered below form part of the DF T's longer term objective to facilitate the management of unmanned aircraft in airspace often referred to as unmanned traffic management UTM UTM is a system designed to enable the integration of drones into airspace including that used by other aircraft there are numerous opinions and models of UTM but such a system could potentially enable ubiquitous awareness for drones or drone users of permanent and dynamic airspace restrictions awareness of other airspace users conflict detection and resolution between drones and other aircraft and handle requests for permission to enter or transit through controlled airspace it is seen as an important step in realizing the full potential of drones including routinely and safely flying beyond a visual line of sight BV L o s then further on it lists three options for the deployment of fins having first described who should have the responsibility of finding flight plans using this system chapter six reviews police powers relating to drones and fixed penalty notices in this section it is highlighted that the police lack the appropriate powers with regards to two key categories of scenarios enforcing the law which applies to the use of drones and investigating and prosecuting suspects and dealing with everyday situations such as car accidents and crime scenes or large event management where there may be a risk of terrorist attack or where drones may be used by the media or bystanders in a manner which is not conducive to effective and safe management of the incident it then goes into detail about what the government is proposing to do in order to give the police the required powers including those to issue FP ends fixed penalty notices for various offences chapter 7 is all about counter drone technology the document then moves on to the threats and risks posed by drones and what can be done in terms of detection and neutralizing of drones that are flown illegally or with malicious or criminal intent and chapter 8 is a section on commercial drone scenario modeling this final section extrapolates current statistics to predict the growth of the UAS industry and what impact that would have on drone numbers per business in the coming decades so as you can see the document covers a lot of ground but much of what it discusses are proposals that may yet change if you're concerned about restrictions on drone flying then perhaps you should voice your concerns not just in a comment below this video but also in a forum like those provided by suas global you'll find a 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