The Transport Safety Board of Canada just released a fact-gathering investigation into an in-flight collision between a drone and a 9 passenger commercial aircraft (Beechcraft King Air 100).  Although there was a very large potential for disaster, thankfully there were no injuries, and the greatest damage appears to be the disintegration of the drone.

The drone was operating without permission, in a class of airspace requiring permission, at the time of impact.  As the owner and operator of the drone were not able to be identified, we can only wonder if the drone had a fly-away, or the operator of the drone intentionally put the drone into a hazardous position. If the drone was facing away from the approaching aircraft, it is even conceivable the drone operator is not even aware of the impact, as presumably the video link was cut-off at the time of impact.

There are currently no knowledge and training requirements prior to purchasing drones.  We at Canfly Drones hope that this investigation gains enough press exposure to motivate all potential drone pilots to seek out the training needed to safely integrate into the Canadian Domestic Airspace system.