Being A Responsible Drone Pilot

If you want to become a drone pilot, you’ll have to keep one important word in your mind. And that word is “safety”.

Let’s not forget that a drone is effectively like a mini helicopter – in other words, a fairly heavy piece of kit with potentially dangerous rotary blades.

Your drone might have an inbuilt camera. But as you pursue your quest for perfect panoramic views you’ll have to remember essential rules to keep you and the public free from harm. Join us, the website design Manchester agency, as we outline how to be a responsible drone pilot.

What Precautions Should You Take?

Here at Blue Whale Media, the website design Manchester agency, we offer drone footage services. We have a drone with a high-resolution camera attached to it, which captures incredible aerial footage. But we know how to fly the drone safely because we have qualified drone pilots on our staff.

Our pilots have received the relevant documentation from the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) that allows us to fly our drone for business purposes. This is known as a Permission for Commercial Operations (PfCO).

This piece of paperwork sets out the conditions for flying professionally, and it’s only obtained after completing a course from a certified training centre known as a National Qualified Entity (NQE).

How Dangerous Can A Drone Be?

Given our expertise, our website design company Manchester keeps an eye on the news relating to drones. Here are some significant statistics about their potential hazards…

– There were 92 drones that had near misses with planes in 2017, according to the UK Airprox Board (UKAB).
– This figure has more than tripled in two years, given that the amount of near misses in 2015 was 29.

Considering these figures, it’s not surprising that the Government is introducing new drone laws, on 30 July 2018, that mean it will be illegal to fly within a kilometre of airport boundaries. And there will be severe penalties for people who flaunt these laws. They could face up to five years in prison and an unlimited fine.

The new legislation also states that from 30 November 2019, you will have to register with the CAA and take an online safety if your drone weighs 250g or more.

What Are The Main Existing Safety Laws?

At our website design Manchester agency we’ve noticed how these new laws are complementing existing ones.

Three of the most important stipulations are that drones must not fly higher than 400 feet (120 metres); they must be at least 50 metres away from people and private property; and 150 metres away from congested areas and organised open-air assemblies of more than 1,000 people.

At our website design company Manchester we’re also aware that the new legislation comes at time when drones are becoming more and more popular with the public and businesses. On the latter point, the number of commercial licences granted by the CAA has grown from 2,500 to 3,800 in 2017. This represents a year-on-year increase of 52 percent.

Contact Our Website Design Manchester Agency

For all your enquires about filming great aerial footage with drones, call Blue Whale Media. Our unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) comes with its own high-resolution camera. And you can trust our trained drone pilots to get the best results for you – professionally and safely. Contact us today.

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