Idiotic drone pilot shuts down Gatwick Airport

While this incident occurred a few months ago, it's nonetheless worth highlight the importance of responsible drone flying. Sure, drones are awesome fun, and for many photographers they now also represent a healthy additional income stream, but taking to the skies without adequate caution and care can have potenially catastrophic results, and can prove to be highly inconvenient for the public at large.

The clip above shows the mass disruption to flights in and out of Gatwick Airport, the UK's second busiest airport, on 2 July this year. It was released by NATS, the UK's leading provider of air traffic control services, who each handle 2.4 million flights and 250 million passengers in UK airspace.

Air traffic controllers were forced to suspend movement on all runways for a total of 14 minutes when a drone entered the restricted space. And while on the face of it 14 minutes might not sound like a very long time, it's close to an eternity when you have to divert all the flights landing and shuffle those taking off during that period. The chaos in the clip above is evident.

Earlier this month, a drone hit a commercial aircraft carrying eight passengers approximately 450 metres above Jean Lesage airport in Quebec City, Canada.

Sadly, it's often the actions of the few which result in severe and restrictive rules being put in place. With foolish fliers like the person involved in the incident above, it's only a matter of time until there's a serious inciddent, and then everything will change for everyone.

In an effort to help track and identify drones in the sky, leading manufacturer DJI has unveiled a new technology, AeroScope, specifically for the purpose. AeroScope uses the existing communications link between a drone and its remote controller to broadcast identification information such as a registration or serial number, as well as basic telemetry, including location, altitude, speed and direction. Police, security agencies, aviation authorities and other authorized parties can use an AeroScope receiver to monitor, analyze and act on that information.

If you're planning on travelling with a drone, it makes sense to consult local laws before you leave home. This website and this one should prove useful.