Using Drones On The Thames

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Using Drones On The Thames
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It seems that a long running debate over the
control that the Port of London Authority can
exercise over drone pilots has finally been
settled with written confirmation from the
CAA. The Port of London Authority (PLA) is
responsible for enforcing the laws and
regulations that apply on the tidal River Thames
a stretch of 95 miles running from Teddington
to the North Sea. They publish on their website a
page specific to the use of Drones / Unmanned
Aerial Vehicles which sets out a number of
requirements along with a statement reading
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the river is not a safe place for the routine use
of any type of low flying aircraft manned or
unmanned. In particular the Thames cannot be
regarded as a convenient corridor or space
for drone flying. It lays out the conditions
under which permission for such flights might be
granted and it is this fact that a number of
commercial drone pilots take issue and where
clarity has finally been provided in written form
from the CAA
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The assertion of a commercial drone operator
would be that the PLA do not control the airspace
and therefore there is no need to seek or receive
their permission to fly over the stretch of the
River Thames that is in their charge. As long as
they are meeting all their legal obligations for
safe flight, they are able to carry out their
business without waiting the stated four weeks
minimum for permission to be granted or paying
the fees that they have been quoted to allow the
flight to go ahead. Fees that increase if the
flight approval process is required to be on
short notice in what is seen by some to be a
cynical money raising exercise with no legal
grounding.
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The CAA has issued the following response to a
DSR member who sought clarification on this very
matter. Although they acknowledge that it will be
discussed further at an upcoming meeting with the
Department of Transport, PLA permission is not
required. It is worth noting however, that this
particular flight was to be conducted with a land
based take off and landing zone. Take offs from
vessels in the past have been reported to result
in heavy fines being levied against the vessel
which it would seem that the PLA are within their
rights to do
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However, if the issue of permission for flight
has been resolved, there is still the issue of a
filming licence that may remain outstanding. The
wording on the Filming and Photography Charges
from the current PLA schedule (quoted below),
talks only of charges from land or river based
crews unless controlled navigation or river
closures are required. As UAVs are allowed to fly
50 metres away from any person, vessel, property
or vehicle (with the caveat always in place that
the flight is being carried out safely and
legally of course), then it would seem that there
is a strong case to be argued that the filming
also do not apply.
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