- Civil Aviation Safety Authority of Australia aims to introduce new surveillance equipment across major airports.
- The equipment would be able to identify the drone’s serial number as well as pinpoint its operator’s location mid-flight.
The Civil Aviation Safety Authority of Australia (CASA) has reportedly announced that it would be deploying a cutting-edge surveillance equipment across major airports in the nation to quell growing concerns of their rising occurrence inside public areas.
Reports cite, the technology is capable of identifying a drone and its serial number while also physically locating the drone’s operator while the drone is still in flight.
According to a report, the crackdown decision was planned before the recent Gatwick Airport incident in London where the airport was forced to close down for over 36 hours after drones were sighted in the airport premises. Approximately 1,000 flights were cancelled with flights in the air being diverted elsewhere which left thousands of passengers stranded during a busy festive season.
The communications manager at CASA, Peter Gibson stated that the technology, with its ability to identify the drone and the location of the operator, along with the new registration requirements would drastically change the way the rules & regulations related to the drones would be enforced. Gibson further added that the year 2019 would be a year of drone safety crackdown.
Sources familiar with the knowledge of the matter claim that officials would also be introducing a drone registration plan by the middle of 2019 so that authorities would be better able to track down the individual operating the drone and then counsel them regarding proper safety precautions.
Under the scheme, authorities would possess greater powers that will allow them to conduct different safety checks. It would also give them an increased ability to issue fines ranging up to AU$10,000 to offenders.
