Drone vs 172 - Canada

Assuming it's a SkyRanger R70 or similar - it's a pretty hefty heavy-lift quadrotor. For comparison the Phantom 4 series is 3 pounds, Mavic 2 series is 2 pounds, and the R70 is around 10lb. Not sure if that's sensor equipped or not based on the datasheet.
 
So does the officer lose his license for this since he was intentionally violating regulations? I believe Canada requires 3 miles separation from airports and drones.
 
SkyHog said:
So does the officer lose his license for this since he was intentionally violating regulations? I believe Canada requires 3 miles separation from airports and drones.
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My guess is that Transport Canada will initiate some kind of an action against the drone pilot. Whether York Regional Police lose their operator license probably depends on whether they were following their own approved SOPs.

There are likely rules that allow operating a drone closer to an airport during an emergency, but there would also be strict procedures to follow, including publishing a NOTAM with Nav Canada.
 
MauleSkinner said:
You have additional information that this was a systemic violation?
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No, just a lot of years working with various law enforcement agencies, state, federal and local. Where there is a problem, it's not usually with the individual. Some agencies are great, and some have little to any respect for rules outside their own organization. So I'm making a generalization based on experience. Here, if the reported data is correct there were two problems. First, an officer flew a drone on an approach path to an airport. Second, somebody let them do it. Could it be an isolated incident and just one bad apple? Sure. In my view, though, unlikely.
 
N1120A said:
Another reason closing towers at airports like Buttonville is idiotic.
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Agreed, although in this case the police didn't bother notifying Nav Canada anyway, so a tower wouldn't have known about the drone unless it showed up on primary surveillance radar.

If it turns out there is a systemic problem, it's probably just institutional arrogance: "we don't have to worry about checking any laws, because we are the law."
 
David Megginson said:
Agreed, although in this case the police didn't bother notifying Nav Canada anyway, so a tower wouldn't have known about the drone unless it showed up on primary surveillance radar.

If it turns out there is a systemic problem, it's probably just institutional arrogance: "we don't have to worry about checking any laws, because we are the law."
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I think if there was a tower, they might have trained the police on airspace rules. A Class C or D surface area there instead of the current oddball MF Class E would have helped.
 
The drone vs alligator story is much more interesting but the drone vs 172 story is much more concerning! I’ve been expecting mid airs like this ever since drones got into the hands of civilians but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that law enforcement can’t operate them safely either.
 
Rushie said:
The drone vs alligator story is much more interesting but the drone vs 172 story is much more concerning! I’ve been expecting mid airs like this ever since drones got into the hands of civilians but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that law enforcement can’t operate them safely either.
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Exactly. They're the same group of people that use military-grade weapons without military-quality training, so it's not surprising that they let an officer play with a large drone under the approach path to an airport without (apparently) even a sliver of the training a civilian operator would require.

There are lots of competent individuals in the police, of course, but they've managed to become competent despite the level of institutional support they get, not because of it.
 
Wow, Canadian police sound really bad. I rode along with a local PD and happened to be with one of their drone operators. He was part 107 certified and knew the airspace everywhere they flew (medium-sized city with a few local municipal airports). Also had ADSB-in on the drone.
 
Lindberg said:
Wow, Canadian police sound really bad. I rode along with a local PD and happened to be with one of their drone operators. He was part 107 certified and knew the airspace everywhere they flew (medium-sized city with a few local municipal airports). Also had ADSB-in on the drone.
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Well, this particular police force, anyway. But police incompetence and/or violence is a too-common story on both sides of the border, despite a lot of decent individuals trying to make the institution better from the inside. :(
 
David Megginson said:
Well, this particular police force, anyway. But police incompetence and/or violence is a too-common story on both sides of the border, despite a lot of decent individuals trying to make the institution better from the inside. :(
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At least on this side of the border, impressions are heavily skewed by accessibility bias.
 
midwestpa24 said:
May be off-topic, but I love when people refer to things as military grade or mil-spec as if it is something special. In my experience, mil grade just means built by lowest bidder.
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Fair enough, but I'm thinking of anything more complex than a pistol or rifle with a small number of rounds. To circle back to the original topic, advanced weapons require a lot of training (initial and recurrent) to employ safely and effectively, just like a large drone or a piloted aircraft does. It appears that the York Regional Police did not bother to provide that training for their drone operator, so I'd be surprised if they provide sufficient training in the use of their advanced weapons either.
 
midwestpa24 said:
May be off-topic, but I love when people refer to things as military grade or mil-spec as if it is something special. In my experience, mil grade just means built by lowest bidder.
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hahahahahahahahahaha!!!!

After a lifetime of military service in a combat role and multiple combat tours... Outside of a handful of items, anything marked Mil-Spec gets extra attention.
 
Who have the Canadian police arrested? If that had been a civilian, his name would have been plastered over many news articles, and he would have been roasted in public. And yet, in this case we will never know. It's good to be one of the King's men.
 
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