Air Traffic Management and Unmanned Aircraft Act 2021 receives Royal Assent

[MattyB]

Bill to modernise airspace and tackle illegal use of unmanned aircraft receives Royal Assent - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

 

Short summary of impact to model flyers... The Police now have (or will shortly) the powers to ground models and search persons/vehicles if they think an offense has/is taking place, and to use "reasonable force if necessary" to do so. They also have powers to take enforcement action against anyone transgressing the regulations on registration or competency, or who has not got the relevant consents/exemptions in place to allow a legal flight to take place. That enforcement action includes but is not limited to on the spot fines. 

 

The act itself, and key excerpts:

• Air Traffic Management and Unmanned Aircraft Act 2021 (legislation.gov.uk)
• SCHEDULE 8 - Unmanned aircraft: powers of police officers and prison authorities
• SCHEDULE 9 - Unmanned aircraft: powers of police officers relating to ANO 2016
• SCHEDULE 10 - Fixed penalties for certain offences relating to unmanned aircraft
• SCHEDULE 11 - Amendment and enforcement regulations

 

Edited May 4, 2021 by MattyB

[J D 8]

         Strewth.

[FlyinBrian]

Jeeez, what a load of twaddle - how can the average joe or Josephine "Aeromodeller" contest a constable's allegation that he or she is flying illegally.

Yes I have my Operator ID on my models and can prove I am a BMFA member with A&B certs but If a PC says land now! and wants to search me and my 

car, motorhome or whatever I'll just have to grin and bare? it.

 

I suppose it wont be long before ANPR type cameras turn up on the field.

 

[Andy Stephenson]

I can't imagine the average plod having any idea what the rules are. It will be interesting to see what encounters with the law happen from now on. They may be a bit shy of making a deal out of imagined incursions after the, oh so public and expensive, pig's ear the Sussex Police made of the Gatwick affair.

[Don Fry]

Ex plod here. This sort of thing used to be delivered in “distant learning modules”, ie, time to finish yer tea before launched into work. Bye the way, this will start before the clock on time. 
I, as an interested party, would listen. Others might not.

 

Sussex Police, Gatwick, cock up. The bloke in charge, his minions, have never seen anything smaller than a 737 take off. What do you expect on that pay scale. His, their, knowledge stops at throwing a chuck glider. Probably, efficient sorting out a murder. Taking the Michael, does not help. But, I would say, training volume over the decades has gone down. Work goes up.  Police numbers over the last decade is down Iro 20 per cent. Workload is therefore……..You do the maths. What can I dump springs to mind.

 

[GrumpyGnome]

Can't imagine it'll have any real-world impact on anyone that flies in a sensible place/manner........

 

GG 

[Cuban8]

I wish that the plague of illegal small electric scooters were dealt with, because if where I live is anything to go by, represent a far more serious and tangible risk of injury to those breaking the law by using them, and also pedestrians put in harms way in comparison to model aircraft.  The police AFAICS do nothing to stop illegal Escooterists in my area, and I've witnessed police cars driving past several scooterists riding at speed on the pavement and in the road with not even a second glance. Given all that, I think that you can forget the silly and absurd 'hobby drone laws' being enforced to any day to day degree,  but of course, that doesn't mean that we should act like some others in society who follow the 'doesn't apply to me' principle.

Grumpy G......you are quite right, it won't affect the overwhelming number of people that fly safely and legally - we've ticked the  boxes and read the book of words - I never hear a word at either of my clubs about all this guff so all's right with the world.

I'm looking forward to the inevitable government review of all this in future and what people will make of a law that many think will be shown, as it applies to us, to be unworkable and pointless when it's put under proper scrutiny.

 

BTW, we also have a legal Escooter trial by the council, no doubt to show it's Green awareness, going on at this time. Not a bad idea but not cheap to hire with your phone app. They do have proper controls on who uses them and clear and unambiguous regs as to where they can be used in public supported by a geofencing system.  They rarely leave their storage racks...............

 

Edited May 5, 2021 by Cuban8

[Michael Barclay]

Can't see police turning up at the club field. Just carry on as normal.

[ken anderson.]

4 hours ago, GrumpyGnome said:

Can't imagine it'll have any real-world impact on anyone that flies in a sensible place/manner........

 

GG 

i agree,think the only one's who need to be concerned are the"wasters".....anyone who is a member of the recognised associations will tend fly as they are allowed...so no worries as such.

 

ken anderson...ne...1..wasters dept.

[Dave S.]

16 minutes ago, Michael Barclay said:

Can't see police turning up at the club field. Just carry on as normal.

When I was a shift worker in West London years ago, the weekday gang flying at Hanworth Airpark included several policemen - good chaps they were, too.

[MattyB]

7 hours ago, GrumpyGnome said:

Can't imagine it'll have any real-world impact on anyone that flies in a sensible place/manner....

 

 

2 hours ago, Michael Barclay said:

Can't see police turning up at the club field. Just carry on as normal.

 

2 hours ago, ken anderson. said:

i agree, think the only one's who need to be concerned are the "wasters".....anyone who is a member of the recognised associations will tend fly as they are allowed...so no worries as such.

 

If you only fly at a private club field then yes, this is unlikely to affect you. It is however likely to impact on those of us who fly legally in public places  - I am sure there will be a few officers sent out to known public flying sites (at least in the early months) to create some news-worthy cases where un-registered flyers are given on the spot fines to encourage others to register and take the test. I will certainly be making sure I have all the relevant paperwork about my person before I next go flying at a public access site.

 

Edited May 5, 2021 by MattyB

[MattyB]

17 hours ago, FlyinBrian said:

Jeez, what a load of twaddle - how can the average joe or Josephine "Aeromodeller" contest a constable's allegation that he or she is flying illegally.

Yes I have my Operator ID on my models and can prove I am a BMFA member with A&B certs but If a PC says land now! and wants to search me and my 

car, motorhome or whatever I'll just have to grin and bare it?

 

Yes, that is pretty much it. Remember they still have to prove you were breaking the law though to prosecute you. That is easy if you haven't taken the Flyer ID test/can't prove competency/don't have your Op ID displayed, but much harder on the other counts (operating too near to people etc). I strongly suspect that enforcement will only occur in those instances if additional independent complainants/witnesses are present and/or an actual incident has taken place where physical harm or damage to property has occurred.