Air Transport

The Israel airline pilots association is demanding that strict rules be applied to the operation of unmanned air vehicles near civil air routes in Israel after two incidents in which it claims UAVs came “dangerously” close to passenger aircraft, writes Arie Egozi.

The demands are included in a letter sent by Capt Dorion Choen-Nov, the association’s chairman, to the general manager of the Israeli civil aviation authority. Choen-Nov claims there have been two recent incidents involving UAVs that endangered passenger aircraft when “they entered areas used by civil aircraft and came uncontrollably near to passenger aircraft”.

This follows an incident earlier this year when a large UAV came close to a passenger aircraft that was on approach to Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv.

Choen-Nov has demanded immediate action to prevent further incidents, until the issue is settled by law. The main demand is to prohibit the flight of UAVs without Mode C transponders less than 15nm (28km) from civil aircraft routes.

In March, the Israeli air force notified the civil aviation authority that it would no longer approve flights of UAVs that are being developed by Israeli manufacturers for foreign customers.

The decision affects the operations of Israeli UAV manufacturers testing systems for export.