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Air authorities seek to curb Dubai's stray drones

KentA

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(CNN) — Eighty-seven million passengers passed through Dubai International in 2017, making it one of the busiest airports in the world. So when there's a hiccup in operations, the effect can be profound.
Shutdowns can cost the airport as much as $1 million a minute, and in recent times drones have been a big issue. Drone incursions into airport airspace were responsible for three shutdowns in 2016 -- one for as long as 90 minutes.
To counter the problem, the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA) has implemented Skytrax, a system that monitors domestically registered drones to prevent shutdowns.

Skytrax works by fixing a tracker weighing 58 grams (2 ounces) to every drone licensed for use in the emirate. Developed in collaboration with drone company Exponent Technology Services, chief executive Asam Khan says no other city has gone to such lengths to monitor and manage drone activity.
Real-time tracking is monitored by the DCAA 24 hours a day, and if a drone strays close to a no-fly zone such as Dubai International, the system will send text alerts to DCAA officials and the drone operator, warning them to change course.
No drone is allowed within 16,400 feet horizontally or 3,000 feet vertically of commercial air traffic, says Khan.

Dubai.jpg

Mike Rudolph, head of airspace safety at the DCAA, says it's "relatively rare" they'll have to call up a drone pilot over a potentially dangerous flight path. The system can't take down a drone from the air mid-flight, but Rudolph says due to Skytrax's ability to hold pilots to account, it's proving an effective deterrent when it comes to airport airspace incursions. "We've had no incidents from the time that we've implemented the system," he says.

Futureproofing drone regulations and managing the skies will only become more important as plans take shape for an air taxi service in Dubai in 2020.
"Drone operators such as ourselves, we have to realize use of the national air space (is) not a fundamental human right," says Khan. "You share it with other users, so you have to use it responsibly."

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/dubai-airport-drone-tracking/index.html
 
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I think some version of this has to be in our future. A friend (who just left the FAA for L3) says drone control is a big concern for Homeland Security & FAA. Aerospace/Tech companies are pitching various systems they’ve already pitched to the DoD — to track/confuse/render useless/destroy drones. On the battlefield, air superiority/supremacy now includes drone “management”. The FAA is increasingly more open to aggressive drone management...
 
A interesting post on the Legal News & Discussion facebook page by Vic Moss this morning. I edited out what was not important.

"

Discussion about why drones need to be locked out or self authorized in certain areas.



There is a major airport with a drone detection system semi-permanently set up to record (record only) drone incursions into restricted airspace.

All flights were from 2-5 miles out from the end of the runway, and within the enhanced warning zone so they had to be intentionally flown. No accidental violations. All recorded flights were in 100' UASFM grids.

Here are the findings:
~Number of flights: 219
~Average AGL: 325'
~Number of flights exceeding 1000'AGL (in the 100' grid): 11.

That's only within a one week timeframe, and many were directly in the flight path.

I do not know how many of these flights were coordinated with ATC, but I can guaranty most were not. Especially the 1000' flights inside a 100' gird.

This information will be used an upcoming demonstration for FAA investigators.
Enforcement is coming folks. And this is why. Based on these findings, if public enforcement doesn't happen soon, it's an eventuality that more restrictions are coming.

This is not good. The report is sobering, and we all need to wakeup to the fact that if something doesn't happen soon, we will see more regulations, and possible pay to fly, in areas around airports."


Now the first post after that was:

"I am curious of how Accurate this recording system is though. As someone who works on an Airfield and deals with these kind of issues. I have many times seen manned aviation report UAS that turned out to be birds, how does this system work to determine the difference between a goose and a uas."

The response was:

"100% accurate. Does NOT detect anything non-electronic. With DeDrone which might be the system in use here. It detects drones based in part on RF emission and sonic signature. There's zero chance of it mis-identifying a bird as a drone. It uses an aggregate of various sensors to identify a drone in flight and locate it spatially. So it would detect the RF signal from the drone and the transmitter, and could even tell you where the pilot was standing if the location could be triangulated. For identifying the drone, it used camera image processing, directional microphones and sound signature of the motors in addition to the RF. Once the drone was detected, the system would record its video feed (if it was analog) for later payback, including identifying the pilot or evidence of activity."

Sounds like a wake up call for the UAV world.
 
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A interesting post on the Legal News & Discussion facebook page by Vic Moss this morning. I edited out what was not important.

"

Discussion about why drones need to be locked out or self authorized in certain areas.



There is a major airport with a drone detection system semi-permanently set up to record (record only) drone incursions into restricted airspace.

All flights were from 2-5 miles out from the end of the runway, and within the enhanced warning zone so they had to be intentionally flown. No accidental violations. All recorded flights were in 100' UASFM grids.

Here are the findings:
~Number of flights: 219
~Average AGL: 325'
~Number of flights exceeding 1000'AGL (in the 100' grid): 11.

That's only within a one week timeframe, and many were directly in the flight path.

I do not know how many of these flights were coordinated with ATC, but I can guaranty most were not. Especially the 1000' flights inside a 100' gird.

This information will be used an upcoming demonstration for FAA investigators.
Enforcement is coming folks. And this is why. Based on these findings, if public enforcement doesn't happen soon, it's an eventuality that more restrictions are coming.

This is not good. The report is sobering, and we all need to wakeup to the fact that if something doesn't happen soon, we will see more regulations, and possible pay to fly, in areas around airports."


Now the first post after that was:

"I am curious of how Accurate this recording system is though. As someone who works on an Airfield and deals with these kind of issues. I have many times seen manned aviation report UAS that turned out to be birds, how does this system work to determine the difference between a goose and a uas."

The response was:

"100% accurate. Does NOT detect anything non-electronic. With DeDrone which might be the system in use here. It detects drones based in part on RF emission and sonic signature. There's zero chance of it mis-identifying a bird as a drone. It uses an aggregate of various sensors to identify a drone in flight and locate it spatially. So it would detect the RF signal from the drone and the transmitter, and could even tell you where the pilot was standing if the location could be triangulated. For identifying the drone, it used camera image processing, directional microphones and sound signature of the motors in addition to the RF. Once the drone was detected, the system would record its video feed (if it was analog) for later payback, including identifying the pilot or evidence of activity."

Sounds like a wake up call for the UAV world.
Very, very interesting, and aligned with what I’m hearing from aerospace friends...
 
Really interesting... One DC friend led a discussion at a conference w/ the FAA Admin. (under Obama), regarding it’s only a matter of time before an airliner engine sucks-in a drone. On landing, it’s serious... Loosing one of two engines on take-off is every pilot’s nightmare. You immediately throttle-back the good engine so centrifugal force doesn’t yaw you to that side. A delicate stalling dance if you’re not on top off it. If you haven’t seen the movie “Sully”, I highly recommend it. He lost both engines, making the power loss equal, but....jets don’t glide well.
 

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