Ag Industry, Policy

CASA seeks farmers for drone survey

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) wants to hear from farmers who are using drones

CASA’s survey is researching the utility and benefits of beyond visual line-of-sight (BVLOS) remotely piloted aircrafts (RPA).

Drones, which are RPAs, are leading many new advances in global and agricultural industries. The new survey, ‘BVLOS drone operations in regional Australia’ was created to keep up with the quickly advancing technologies.

The data and feedback collected will be used to help design regulatory initiatives for CASA.

This survey comes after CASA implemented changes to drone regulations for automating low-risk operations last year.

The new national survey’s goal is to connect with the drone user community and inform them of regulatory changes for lower-risk BVLOS operations.

CASA’s manager of RPAS Policy and Regulations, Jaclyn Smith, is encouraging everyone to participate.

“We especially want to hear from the rural and regional sectors that use drones in agricultural work such as spray management, mustering, farm and land management, or any activity to deliver agricultural outcomes,” she says.

CASA aims to create a snapshot of the Australian drone sectors’ BVLOS operations and identify the benefits as well as the challenges of increased usage.

One area the survey will focus on is identifying where regulatory improvement may be applied for lower-risk, low-altitude drone operations.

“Drone safety is the highest priority for the drone pilots I work with, and creating a workplace that has continuous system improvements is crucial,” specialist drone operator Renee Bartolo says.

Bartolo is working on projects with rangers and First Nations communities in both regional and remote locations, and urges everyone to partake in the survey.

“Taking part in the survey means we can provide constructive feedback to CASA to assist in the ongoing development of a set of drone rules which will benefit the sector and industry, particularly for BVLOS operations,” she says.

It is important for every drone user to have the opportunity to give honest feedback so CASA and farmers can continue to promote safety and foster community.

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