20131022 Pilot als Attrappe bei FRONTEX

22.10.2013 Pilot als Attrappe bei FRONTEX

EU looks to 'hybrid drones' for legal shortcut on migration

Hybrid aerial surveillance drones are being considered by the EU border agency, Frontex, for future operations with member states. The kit is a so-called optionally piloted aircrafts (OPA). It can carry a pilot but can also be operated by remote control.
They are useful because they circumvent EU laws which prohibit fully unmanned drones from flying in commercial airspace. Flying unmanned craft next to normal passenger or cargo planes over the EU would require amending numerous national and EU-level laws and safety hurdles - a process that is likely to take years.
But putting someone on board as an additional safety feature gets around the problem, even if the real pilot is operating the craft from a ground station. The Warsaw-based Frontex is looking at OPAs as a long term option.