Drones getting too close for comfort, pilot/drone operator says

Drones are becoming the new must-have toy. Anyone can fly them and that can cause problems, especially for air traffic.

Chris LeGrow is anairline pilot and he operates a drone commercially with his St. John's-company Cloudbreaker. He saysit's extremely frustrating.

"They're so small that they have to be really close to the aircraft for you to see them," said Legrow."It really gets your dander up because you have enoughtodeal with flying into a busy airspace."

It's dangerous and it's also a privacy issue. People don't necessarily want these things flying overtheir head.- Chris LeGrow

In August, a drone was reported being flown near the St. John's International Airport,

A recent report confirmed the drone was in the direct flight path of one of the airport's runways.

Regulations state that recreational users cannot operate within ninekilometres of the airport. The dronewas only 4.5kilometres away.

"Referencing the centreof the airport, it's pretty close,"LeGrowtold CBC's St. John's Morning Show.

"We're seeing alot of recreational use within those boundaries especially in St. John's."

St. John's harbour andQuidi Vidihave becomevery popular areas for drones to fly.

Legrowsaid spectacular scenery draws people to that airspace. The problemis that they're bothin the flight path for approach to one of the St. John's airportrunways .

"From a pilots perspective when we're on approach to landing we're concentrating on a lot of things and looking out for drones has become increasingly common for us now," he said.

Drones operate over radio frequencies and are subject to many types ofinterference.

"So someone not trying to interfere with air traffic might be flying their drone over Signal Hill and there have been manyoccurrenceswhere drones just fly off and they lose their link," saidLeGrow.

LeGrow operates a commercial drone, which cost his company$50 thousand. Many recreational users are buying cheaper models that do not have the same reliability.

Aviation is a highly regulated industry. Although,LeGrowbelievesthat technologyis changingso quickly andTransport Canada's rules can'tkeep up.

LeGrow would like to see users have to complete an online exam to be allowed to operate a drone.

"Is it the best thing in the world? No, but at least people now have proven that they've read the rules and met a certain standard," said LeGrow.

"It's dangerous and it's also a privacy issue. People don't necessarily want these things flying over their head."