The Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA) recently sent a letter to Marc Garneau, minister of Transport Canada, urging the agency to revise regulations to protect Canadian airspace from drones.
The letter was in response to the in-flight collision between a drone and a Sky Jet aircraft near Quebec’s Jean-Lesage International Airport in October. Earlier this month, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) released a report on the incident.
“We believe the incident and TSB report signal a need for Transport Canada to re-evaluate their planned UAS (unmanned aircraft systems) regulatory framework to ensure it more adequately addresses the risks that currently exist in the airspace system,” Capt. Dan Adamus, ALPA Canada Board president, said. “Based on our analysis of the draft regulations, the Transport Canada proposal falls short of the regulations needed to ensure safety.”
ALPA told Garneau that Transport Canada has too many categories of regulations, and non-aviators have difficulty understanding what applies to them. ALPA also said pilots are inadequately prepared to encounter drones, the requirement to register drones does not apply to recreational users, and that remotely piloted aircraft systems would be permitted within 1.15 miles of some airports.
ALPA urges Transport Canada to incorporate this feedback as it finalizes regulations.