UK CAA urges drone operators to steer clear of emergency helicopters

The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has developed new video guidance to explain to drone operators the risks of flying too close to emergency helicopters. The move comes after helicopter pilots reported more than a dozen cases where they felt a drone had become too close to their aircraft.

The bulk of these complaints come from Yorkshire Air Ambulance, which helped the UK CAA to develop the guidance video shared below. According to the agency, service helicopters reported 13 cases of drone spottings in 2022 while nine such incidents occurred in 2021. Six of these incidents occurred near the Royal London Hospital helipad.

What’s most worrying is that in the past 12 months, critical Yorkshire Air Ambulance flights were impacted five times by drones.

“If we are going to an emergency and a drone is spotted then it potentially delays us getting critical care to a patient while we check where the drone is and what it’s doing,” captain James Booth, a Yorkshire Air Ambulance pilot, explains. “In many cases, the people we are helping need expert trauma care as soon as possible, and any delay in us reaching a patient or transferring them quickly to a hospital can have a significant impact.”

So, now, the message from the UK CAA is clear: Drone operators must fly responsibly and avoid flying their drones near emergency services helicopters that are dealing with incidents.

If a drone user sees or hears any helicopter operating near them the safest course of action is to land their drone and let the other aircraft pass. Anyone flying a drone must keep out of the way and not fly in any way that could hamper the emergency services when they are responding to an emergency incident such as road traffic accidents, fires, floods, and rescues.

Jonathan Nicholson a spokesperson for the UK CAA, says, “We are actively supporting the growth of drones in the UK to make sure we exploit their full potential, including flying as a hobby. But to achieve this we need everyone operating a drone to use their common sense and fly safely. This is especially the case near emergencies where we have seen drones being used to try and film an incident cause a delay to air ambulance helicopters.”

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