Are flying drones safe? Experts dissect demand, regulations, civilian injuries

Last week Indian playback singer Benny Dayal posted a video on Instagram that saw close to six lakh views Except that it wasnt of the cracker performer we all know for high energy numbers like Badtameez Dil but of a wary injured man warning the unsuspecting as he stroked his pate and flashed bandaged fingers to his fansRecreational photo shoots employing breathtaking aerial shots done using drone cameras are becoming increasingly popular among Indians tooDayal 38 who was performing at the cultural festival of Vellore Institute of Technology in Chennai was struck by a drone camera capturing the concert leaving him struck down on his knees on stage seconds later Explaining how it grazed his head and left lacerations on his fingers after flying too close to him Dayal said ldquoAll artists should make sure they have a clause in their contract that the drone cannot fly close to them while they are performing as their movements cannot be coordinated The person should be certified to operate a drone We are artists We are just singing on stage We are not Vijay or Ajay or Salman Khan or Prabhas or some action hero You donrsquot have to do all these stunts Just do a regular showrdquoMohit Gurjar is a Mumbaibased drone pilot who takes on assignments for mostly real estate firms Overconfident operators sometimes risk safety for one brilliant shot he saysThe last time a drone accident hit headlines was in 2022 when two dancers were hit while performing at a Republic Day function at Jabalpurrsquos Pandit Ravi Shankar Shukla stadium Indu Kunjam and Gangotri Kunjam sustained head injuries after a Quadcopter displaying automated spraying as part of the tableau of the Madhya Pradesh agriculture department crashlanded In a less dramatic and serious incident the same year the Delhi Metro services were briefly suspended after a drone fell on the tracks near the Jasola Vihar station It was being used by a pharma company to deliver medicinesA drone camera image of a wedding in Mumbai shot by Mumbai based photographer Yogesh Surani ldquoParticularly during events like concerts itrsquos the drone operator who needs to exercise extra caution since the artiste is but likely to move around on stage freely and can collide with the camera if the pilot is not carefulrdquo says Surani who has six years of experience in drone photographyDrones or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles UAV are now everywhere In 2021 when the government decided to set up a database India registered a total of 29500 drones The actual numbers are expected to be way higher thanks to the technologyrsquos application in a variety of industries spanning defence but also nonmilitary applications like aerial photography delivery services precision agriculture infrastructure private occasions such as weddings and in Dayalrsquos case a musical performance Reports have pegged Indiarsquos nascent UAV sector to grow from the current turnover of R80 crore to close to R12000 crore in the next three years with the country being home to over 200 drone startups While the segment is currently led by longrange UAVs smaller drones for commercial or civilian purposes are equally popular With newer technologies making the lightest of these babies weighing barely 250 gm and with rotors spinning at 150 revolutions per second experts wonder if drone disasters are inevitableCaptain Nikunj Parashar Founder and CEO of Sagar Defence Engineering says that the onus of ensuring safety should always be on the drone operatorldquoThe most important rule and our foremost recommendation to all users is to never fly over or close to a human A drone should always be flown at a sufficient height so as to allow buffer room even if a malfunction were to occur and people around have ample time to spot it and reactrdquo Captain Nikunj Parashar tells midday about the potential danger this poses to both performers and spectators The founder and CEO of Sagar Defence Engineering with eight years of experience in drone manufacturing adds ldquoDrone cameras are only getting advanced and tend to have a powerful zoom function There is rarely a need to fly them close to humans in the first placerdquoNitish Bansal Saurabh Aggarwal and Punit Tiwari published a report in 2021 available on the National Library of Medicine portal that discussed the case of a 40yearold drone operator who suffered injuries on both hands and required sutures and physiotherapy Pics CourtesyNitish Bansal Saurabh Aggarwal Punit Tiwari Delhi Orthopaedic AssociationIn May last year at the launch of the NITI Aayog Experience Studio on Drones in New Delhi Union civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia echoed PM Narendra Modi when he shared the vision for India to become a drone hub by 2030 fuelled by policy push incentives and demand creationPlayback singer Benny Dayal posted a precautionary video asking organisers and operators to be responsible after being grazed by a drone camera at a concert in Chennai last weekHe was referencing in part the announcement by his ministry regarding the Drone Amendment Rules 2022 which made it easier for Indians to fly small drones legally for noncommercial purposes A remote pilot certificate issued by an institute authorised by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation DGCA is not required to fly nano or micro drones for noncommercial use making things easier for drone enthusiasts to dive in The idea was to promote the usage of drones since the emerging technology is providing ample employment and manufacturing opportunities The government has categorised drones into five categories Nano or less than or equal to 250 gm doesnrsquot require permit Micro or greater than 250 gm and less than or equal to 2 kg no permits required for noncommercial use Small or greater than 2 kg and less than or equal to 25 kg Medium or greater than 25 kg and less than or equal to 150 kg and Large or greater than 150 kgRohansingh Suryavanshi filmmaker and aerial cinematographer admits that safety guidelines when using drone cameras are not top priority for organisers in IndiaThere are of course thousands of suspected undeclared users Which effectively means that a novice flying a drone for fun could crash land it through your window or injure your child in the playground like it happened in Davenport Iowa to a oneyearold toddler who was on a park swing when a drone flew in from a nearby soccer field and struck him in the face The 19yearold responsible for leaving the child with deep facial cuts was fined by the policeA drone deployed by the Delhi Police for surveillance during the VHP Sankalp March being held from Mandi House to Jantar Mantar in Delhi in July 2022 The Mumbai police deploys drones to enforce security during festivals like Ganesh visarjan PicGetty ImagesWhen drone cameras are used for media purposes pressure from clients to bag breathtaking visuals makes the conversation around safety get pushed deeper into nonpriority area Rohansingh Suryavanshi filmmaker and aerial cinematographer is frank to admit that India has a fair bit of catching up to do as far as safety precautions in civilian drones usage go ldquoItrsquos about getting brilliant shots safety does not figure anywhere No one stops to think if it is safe to fly the drone in a certain space a certain way not the operator or the organisersrdquo he saysMohit Gurjar is a Mumbaibased drone pilot whose last Bollywood project was Bachchhan Paandey He now works exclusively on shoots for real estate firmsVisitors at the Indian drone festival in 2022 at Delhirsquos Pragati Madan With the governmentrsquos welcome push to include drone technology in sundry industries so as to become as ubiquitous as the mobile phone experts worry that with lack of rules enforcement safety may be compromised PicGetty ImagesldquoDrone operators are hired by the production houses or organisers and handed a certain briefrdquo he says ldquoIn case of risk the operator should be able to decline the assignment but the industry doesnt make this easy Payments get stuck Sometimes overconfident operators take a risk to bag that one great visual Wersquove seen drones hit or get tangled in party poppers and ribbon sprays leading to mishapsrdquoInjury is also common among drone flyers themselves and most accidents say experts tend to occur when flying closer to the ground or when landingA case report by Nitish Bansal Saurabh Aggarwal and Punit Tiwari published in 2021 on the National Library of Medicine portal claimed that there is no official data available about drone injuries in India It listed blunt trauma to the head eye globe injuries and skin lacerations as the most common injuries Bansal and Aggarwal who are associated with the department of orthopaedics GMC Patiala discuss a 40yearold patient flying a Trinity F9 VTOL for surveillance and mapping for a policy planning survey by the cityrsquos municipal corporation While handling the drone during landing he injured his hand in the front propeller blades and came to the emergency department with multiple deepbone lacerations and a tuft fracture of the second digit and a fracture of the shaft of the distal phalanx of the third digit Removal of sutures was followed by physiotherapy ldquoInjuries to the arms and hands are most common They may vary from minor cuts to open fractures or even amputation of digitsrdquo the report saidExperts suggest that drone enthusiasts invest in safety equipment including protective eye gear and gloves Propeller guards attached to the blades can help as does the use of sensors for automatic deceleration in case of a collisionWhile most drones have inbuilt mechanisms to prevent them from trespassing into flight paths of commercial aircrafts experts say restrict them from taking off within three kilometres of an airport and automatically lock their ascent at a certain height they rely heavily on GPS signals even the slightest fluctuation can result in haywire movement ldquoIf a magnetic field interferes with the signal or if a drone comes dangerously close to a large piece of iron it could lose controlrdquo Suryavanshi says comparing flying an UAV to controlling a speeding carOfficials of the Mumbai police who use drone cameras to enforce security during major public festivals like Ganeshotsav err on the side of caution especially since it requires the machine to fly over large swathes of human groups Prior testing to catch glitches and surveying the dronersquos flight path beforehand and keeping them hovering at a fixed location for as long as possible are some of the safety hacks used ldquoWe engage civilian operators who are registered with the Directorate of Civil Aviation DGCA and make sure that all guidelines are followed while using themrdquo says Deputy Commissioner of Police Operations Vishal Thakur Thakur is in charge of planning and coordinating bandobast for all major events in Mumbai from public festivals to VIP visitsWhatrsquos worrying experts highlight is that most people do not realise that flying a drone is illegal without permission from the local police A mishap automatically invites an inquiry and a criminal case can be registered depending on the seriousness of the accident All incidents are also required to be reported to the DGCA so as to allow suitable action to be recommended against the operator which may sometimes include the suspension of their licenseGurjar says rules exist but enforcement continues to be a problem especially at recreational events ldquoNot just in India there have been incidents abroad as wellrdquo he says citing the example of singer Enrique Iglesias who cut his hand in an incident at a concert in 2015 Captain Parashar puts it into perspective ldquoWersquove had Boeings crash land and armed force helicopters experience technical snags A drone operates against gravity and there is always the outer chance that it can fall The onus therefore has to be on the userrdquoRs 12k CREstimated turnover of UAV sector in the next three years18L croreIndiarsquos domestic drone manufacturing industry has the potential to hit this figure in the next eight years according to a report published by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry FICCI in September 2022What is a droneA drone is an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle UAV it does not carry a human operator and can fly autonomously or be piloted remotelyWhat You Need To Know Before You PilotthinspThe Directorate General of Civil Aviation DGCA does not require you to have a pilotrsquos license for nano and micro drones if you are using them for noncommercial purposes However all pilots need prior permission from the police before they can fly a dronethinspAs per an order issued under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure CrPC the police have forbidden flying of drones paragliders or any other flying objects without permission A pilot can apply for the permission at the local police station stating the purpose of flying in the applicationthinspTo become a pilot you can apply online at Digital Sky a DGCA portal that has all information application forms and criteria The website has a list of 48 authorised drone training institutes in India where you can apply for training A typical training programme lasts for five to seven daysthinspYou first get a student remote pilot license which is valid for five years After you finish your training and submit the certificate the DGCA issues a Remote Pilot License which is valid for ten years and has to be renewed after expirythinspTo be eligible for training as a drone pilot you should have passed Class X and be over 18 years of age Candidates are required to undergo a medical examination and a background check as per the DGCArsquos requirementsthinspYou are allowed to fly drones till the age of 65thinspDigital Sky also has interactive maps of red yellow and green zones for drones Red zones are completely offlimits to drones while yellow zones require prior permission from the DGCA and green zones can be entered without any extra permissions apart from the one issued by the police