Aerialtronics wants ‘Know Before You Fly Drones’

23-12-2014

Aerialtronics wants ‘Know Before You Fly Drones’ campaign in Europe

Aerialtronics today backed the “Know Before You Fly Drones” campaign, which provides prospective operators with the information and guidance they need to fly drones safely and responsibly and announces plans to set up drone test centre to maintain safety and research standards.

Aerialtronics today lent its support for the new “Know Before You Fly Drones” campaign ( http://www.knowbeforeyoufly.org/ ) in the US aimed at educating prospective users about the safe and responsible operation of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).

The move is spearheaded by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI), Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) and the Small UAV Coalition in partnership with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Aerialtronics is one of the founding members of the Small UAV Coalition.

It’s a welcome step following a series of near misses involving small drones, or remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS), flying close to commercial aircraft, especially in the USA, where 25 cases have been registered in only a few months.

Last month, a multicopter RPAS flew within 20ft of a 180-seat Airbus A320 as it landed at London’s Heathrow Airport. The British Civil Aviation Authority gave the incident an “A” rating, which indicated a “serious risk of collision”.

Lucas van Oostrum, co-founder of Aerialtronics, said: “Europe needs to start educating people on using drones as well. There is a need for the industry to unite in Europe to make flying drones both as a hobby and commercially safe for everyone. We are currently working on developing the Small UAV Coalition in Europe. Companies who want to join this coalition are welcome.

“In order to safely test drones and accelerate innovation, Aerialtronics, together with the Technical University of Delft, are also setting up the first drone test centre in Europe near Amsterdam in The Netherlands.”

The centre will help companies work together on the latest technological research and ensure that safety is paramount in the development and testing of commercial drones in Europe.

“There is a lot of excitement and enthusiasm around UAS, and the technology is becoming the must-have holiday gift,” said Michael Toscano, President and CEO of AUVSI. “The Know Before You Fly campaign fills a critical education gap just in time for the holiday season. We want to ensure that all prospective operators have the tools they need to fly safely and responsibly.”

About Aerialtronics

Aerialtronics is a leading international manufacturer of state of the art, high quality unmanned aircraft systems for civilian purposes. The company sells multirotor Alturas for a wide variety of applications in numerous countries worldwide. Aerialtronics’ systems are designed and developed in-house according to aviation grade quality standards making the Altura systems consistently reliable as well as stable. Aerialtronics defines the future of unmanned aircraft systems!

www.aerialtronics.com