Drones play a major role today in shipping operations, with UK Maritime and Coast Guard Agency (MCA) commenting that ‘drones could be used in the future to help save life across the UK.’
Now, the UK MCA announced today that it is looking into a new project to investigate whether drones could improve rescue missions by visiting rescue sites ahead of air, sea or land based recovery teams; by providing a full picture of the situation and helping to develop the appropriate response.
Moreover, the project aims to understand how the existent regulations around drones can be developed to unlock potentials for helping those in distress on the UK’s coastline, making rescues safer and more efficient.
It should be reminded that the ISO approved Drone Safety Standards that was launched in December 2019 paid great attention to the use of drones and restrictions of them when it comes to safety, private protection and their impact on economy.
To implement the project, UK MCA will collaborate with Elbit Systems UK and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to carry out the demonstrations in the coming months.
In addition, the drone demonstration and development project will assess the use of drones for regular and routine flights out of visual range in unsegregated and uncontrolled UK airspace.
Commenting on the new project, Maritime Minister Nusrat Ghani stated
Drone technology has enormous potential for our search and rescue teams, who save lives 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Concluding, Phil Hanson, Aviation Technical Assurance Manager at the Maritime & Coastguard Agency added his admiration on the new project and applauded UK MCA on ‘taking the brave step‘ to lead and implement Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drones in UK airspace.
