The number of near-miss midair collisions between aircraft and drones has increased steeply over the last few years, and according to the head of the British air traffic control service, half of air traffic incidents now involve drones.

As drones continue to soar in popularity this number will likely continue to increase and due to this, there have been calls for more technology to combat drone threats.

Hobbyist drone operators are largely unregulated, although the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has released a drone code to make flight rules clearer. As of the 30th of July 2018, it has been illegal in the UK to fly a drone over 400ft or within one kilometre of an airport or airfield boundary.

In a bid to protect aircraft and to ensure drone operators are held accountable, the International Organisation for Standardisation (IOS) has unveiled the first ever set of worldwide drone standards.

The proposed set of standards will be open for public consultation until the 21st of January. It is expected that the new rules will be adopted worldwide later in 2019.

New Standards Aim to Provide Consistent Rules

The draft recommends strict “no-fly zones” to keep drones a sufficient distance from airports or sensitive locations. The standards recommend the use of geo-fencing technology to stop flights in the designated restricted areas.

It also calls for flight logging, training, and maintenance requirements with the aim of ensuring operators respect privacy and data protection. Most importantly, it says a fail-safe means of human intervention is mandatory for all drone flights, which will establish a system of accountability for drone operators.

It is hoped that by setting industry regulations, more organisations will be encouraged to adopt drone technology. More sets of ISO drone standards will follow, which will cover technical specs, traffic control, and manufacturing quality.