The Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) said that the government is considering stricter regulations on the use of aerial drones, after a series of recent incidents demonstrated how the unmanned vehicles can threaten public safety.
Taipei Financial Center Corp, which owns Taipei 101, yesterday confirmed it had found three drones near the base of the building since last month, adding that it suspected they might have hit the building before falling to the ground.
The company added that one of them was found on Songchih Rd (松智路) on Tuesday morning.
“We hope the government will soon draft laws to regulate the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, as it is very dangerous to allow them in [Taipei’s] Xinyi District (信義), where a lot of the buildings are more than 30 stories tall,” Taipei 101 spokesperson Michael Liu (劉家豪) said, adding that apart from safety issues, the use of unmanned aerial vehicles could also be an invasion of privacy.
He said that Taipei 101 enhanced security around the building after the incidents took place, and security guards would dissuade people near the skyscraper from flying the unmanned aerial vehicles.
Media reports said that the drone found on Tuesday was owned by a Chinese tourist surnamed Yang (楊) whose drone crashed into Taipei 101. He was let go after being questioned by police. The company said it reserves the right to sue Yang for any potential damage to the building.
Earlier this month, the CAA reported that it found a drone on the runway of the Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) last month. It yesterday confirmed that the owner of the drone had been found, and would soon be the first person in the nation fined for breaking the ban on flying objects near the airport.
Though the Civil Aviation Act (民用航空法) stipulates that the drone owner may be fined between NT$300,000 (US$9,569) and NT$1.5 million, the CAA said the owner may only be fined NT$300,000 as the person did not do it on purpose.
The CAA said it would also investigate the incident involving the use of the drone near Taipei 101.
The rules of enforcement stipulated by the Civil Aviation Act list drones or remotely-controlled aircraft as among the objects that can affect civil aviation safety.
These objects are prohibited within a 5km radius from each end of the airport’s runway. On both sides of the runway, no object is allowed within 2.6km of the central line of the runway.
In the area surrounding the airport, drones are banned from flying above 60m from the elevation of the airport.
In view of the increase in violations, the CAA’s proposed regulations on the unmanned aerial vehicles would require drone owners to have drones certified and to acquire licenses to operate them if the drones exceed a certain weight.
CAA’s Flight Standard Division section chief Keng Hwa (耿驊) said that the agency is scheduled to discuss the issue with other government departments next month.
According to National Communications Commission spokesperson Yu Hsiao-cheng (虞孝成), the commission is only in charge of certifying the frequency and power used by the drones and ensuring that they can be used safely. The commission, however, does not regulate the flight of drones.
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday called for new regulations for air drones.
“Today I just found out that current law [governing drones] is inconsistent,” Ko said. “If the central government does not draft regulations restricting drones, Taipei will draft its own.”
Additional reporting by Lauly Li and Abraham Gerber
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