New guidance on unauthorised drones is needed, says ACI World

ACI World and its global aviation industry partners have addressed the need for standards and guidance to tackle unauthorised drone operations at the 40th International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Assembly.

ACI World, CANSO, International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers’ Associations (IFATCA), International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations (IFALPA) and IATA presented a paper – entitled: The need for standards and guidance to mitigate the risks of, and to improve response to, unauthorized UAS operations – which stated that disruption to airport operations by drones is a matter that requires urgent attention by ICAO, states and the industry.

In addition to the safety risk which comes directly from unauthorised drone – or Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) – operations, several major airports have been shut down by drone sightings around the world, leading to frustrated passengers and substantial economic costs.

The Assembly was invited to request ICAO to establish a process to allow the industry to provide input to mitigate the risks of, and improve government and industry responses to, unauthorised drone operations, such as:

• Developing guidance material
• Developing a generic concept of operation that could be used by states to establish procedures
• Defining taxonomy related to UAS incidents and accidents.

In response, ICAO noted the offer of the industry to assist in drafting the above guidance material, and gave their support to the aforementioned working paper.