The recent drone made pilots of the Swiss International Air Lines Airbus A319 to worry a lot. The board was carrying 103 passengers and five crew members was about 9.2 km from Kloten’s runway 14 when a drone suddenly appeared 20 metres above the aircraft, The Local Switzerland reported.
The researches have proven that drones that collide with large manned aircraft can cause more structural damage than birds of the same weight for a given impact speed. That’s why the Swiss Transportation Safety Investigation Board expressed a concern due to the recent colliding incident of the Swiss International Air Lines Airbus A319 and a drone.
Fortunately, none of the passengers was injured in the incident but the Swiss Transportation Safety Investigation Board is now investigating the dangerous case. The Swiss law bans to fly a drone weighing 500 grams or more within 5 km of landing fields and heliports without prior permission. However, the drones owners could be sometimes very irresponsible and their flying toys become uncontrollable and even dangerous to the aircraft. Despite of the small scale of a drone, it could jeopardise the passengers’ lives in the flying plane.
The Swiss Federal Aviation Office (BAZL) insists the weight restriction would be lowered to 250 grams in future as the EU rolls out new regulations around drone use. Moreover, for airports and heliports with air traffic control systems, drones can fly to a maximum height of 150 m above the ground. Disobeying of these simple and understandable rules can lead to financial damages and even to the tragedy, say the experts from Zurich airport.
Despite the existing drone law, the Swiss airlines safety boss Philipp Spörli told that many people flying drones were unaware of the rules. BAZL has already created the electronic register of drone operators while authorities at Zurich airport are calling for training courses to be run.
