Game of drones

We are not making it up says one pilot, after two drone encounters led him to investigate further

- Robin Evans

I recall observing to the Chief Pilot that I was expecting a drone encounter soon enough…

We were at 3,000ft on departure from a medium sized airport abroad in a high performance twin. I was handflying, so picked it up first, reflecting in the sunlight: a white, cruciform shape heading for us. Having previously flown one, I recognized it as a ubiquitous DJI Phantom, the photographer’s affordable favourite.

I called “drone” and pointed to one o’clock low. My companion spotted it before it passed under his side, straight for the airfield. We reported to ATC and our following traffic (both pilots seemed nonchalant) and then by Airprox report.

I had seen a drone flown down a busy street in the capital of this same European country the year before; there is a cultural element that simply doesn’t seem to perceive the risk.

A second incident occurred on approach to another European field months later. My colleague tracked a drone passing beneath our starboard side, away from the field. Again, it was a light coloured quadcopter, confirmed by another CPL-holding passenger aboard. I was flying at the time, but happy to rely upon eyewitness testimony of experienced pilots I knew, flying with a low workload in broad daylight. The opinion of the controller was clear: “It’s not my job, you must inform the police when you land”. The police were equally uninterested−they did not attend.

The two incidents led me to some pondering and investigation. Both encounters occurred between 2,000ft and 3,000ft, aligned with the runway axis. I wondered; could either have been loss of control, drift out of range, mischief−or just carelessness?