Transcript
Shaheen:
Hello everyone, thank you for joining us in our pre-recorded Drone Safety Day webinar series. Drones Safety Day is aimed at promoting safe drone practices and exploring the cool and innovative ways drones are being used across Canada.
My name is Shaheen Chohan and I’m a policy analyst that works on the remotely piloted aircraft systems or drone task force at Transport Canada.
Transport Canada is the department of the federal government responsible for regulating and developing transportation policies and programs, including those relating to drones.
I’m joined by Paul Bruce, manager of the RPAS program with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or RCMP.
Hi Paul, thanks for joining us.
Paul:
Thank you. You're welcome.
Shaheen:
So, let's start with discussing how drones are being used at the RCMP.
Paul:
Okay, so primarily our uses for drones are in traffic accident reconstruction and outdoor crime scenes where our forensic analysts can get a lot of information about what happened maybe by a different perspective given by the drones and it's the same thing for our traffic analysts.
Our traffic reconstruction analysts who can get an eye in the sky to give an overhead view so we can see maybe things that we can't see from the ground in terms of what might have happened at that scene.
Shaheen:
Awesome, so what kind of drones do you use typically in your operations?
Paul:
The majority of our drones are the consumer level drones that a hobbyist would have, they do the job we need for the most part. We do have in the last couple of years the companies have been focusing on public safety specific purpose-built drones so we do have a few of those enterprise level drones coming into our program that maybe have a little more weather resistance or temperature/wind resistance that they're more rugged we can use in more situations for more time so we do have a few of those in our system but the vast majority of our drones are the regular normal stuff that you would get as a consumer.
Shaheen:
And these drones are being used all across Canada?
Paul:
Yes, well the RCMP polices all the provinces except Ontario and Quebec, so all of our provinces and territories have drones that we use in operations.
Nunavut being the exception but when they need something, they do have either a private company or support from other areas of the country available to them to help out if they do need a drone for a certain instance, but we do have coverage across the country.
Shaheen:
So, how long has the RCMP been using drones in this capacity?
Paul:
So, the RCMP is one of the pioneering agencies in public safety RPAS, we had some real forward-thinking people back when drones started to really blossom as a technology and in 2010 in Saskatchewan our traffic analysts traffic collision reconstruction people started using them in operations to do what we're doing today and get aerial video or photography for a scene to help us determine what happened there.
Shaheen:
So, maybe you can tell us a little bit about the advantages a drone has over other technologies?
Paul:
So, yeah the drone I mean for us it can give us an aerial perspective either with photos or video of a scene that we can't get from the ground and it's a lot more cost effective and less risky than calling in a helicopter or a fixed-wing aircraft to take the same photos or video for us, so it can be quickly deployed and it's quite cheap to do it and we can get great quality video and photo evidence from the drone.
Shaheen:
Right, and given that you're using them across Canada you could probably access places that you can't really otherwise?
Paul:
Yeah, that's true we do, you know a lot of our calls or scenes that we attend are out in very remote rural areas where we don't have you know access to you know a helicopter or an airplane really quickly so this is a great you know tool to have someone nearby that's available with a drone who can come up and do this job.
Shaheen:
Do you think that there are any misconceptions about drones and how they're being used?
Paul:
Definitely some misconceptions about the level of knowledge and skill it takes to safely operate drones, our training is quite challenging and the amount of regular practice and operational experience that a pilot needs to stay on top of things and to stay proficient at his craft is quite high and I don't think a lot of people really understand or appreciate that.
Shaheen:
Yeah.
Paul:
So that's something we know that the perception is can be out there that they're toys or they're simple and very easy but yeah, our training and our procedures are pretty serious and strict and we follow them as best we can, and we really have to focus on consistent training and consistent practice to maintain our proficiency.
Shaheen:
Right, maybe you can speak a little bit to this training, what training do your pilots have to go through to make sure that they're, you know, ensuring the safety.
Paul:
Sure, so all of our pilots have to take a an RCMP RPAS ground school course.
It's a four-day course where they learn about all the safe operations, they learn all the information they're going to need to pass the Transport Canada advanced exam, and they also learn about all the nuances for our RCMP program and procedures, so that's the first step in in getting their operational privileges is taking the ground school course following the ground school course there to take the TC exam and pass that.
Once they've passed that we train them on the specific system they'll be using, so there's another course for the drone they'll be using if they're given a specific drone they're trained on that specific drone and depending on where they are and the type of work, they'll be doing they may be groomed by a more experienced pilot for the first few months of practice and training until they're able to deploy operationally on a call-out situation basis.
Shaheen:
So how does it work do you usually have ambulance or police show up first and then a drone is called or does a drone show up initially off the bat?
Paul:
So, a drone would normally be a secondary call in, the first responders will go to a scene assess it and if it's determined that a drone would be useful or helpful in the situation or if it's a scene that's under control it's just a matter of now we have to collect evidence there, It's usually a call in, a secondary call-in, so the member at the scene who's identified a need for a drone will make a call, either through our central communication center or to the drone pilot themselves if there's an on-call process in place there, and then the drone and pilot will start preparing their pre-flight information and start making their way to the scene so they can get the drone up in the air.
Shaheen:
So, are there any key lessons that the RCMP has learned from using drones in in your operations?
Paul:
I think the key lesson that we learn and continue to learn is all about the checklist discipline and the procedure discipline that our pilots have to have to operate safely.
We do have checklists and procedures in place for every drone we fly, and every operation that we're flying.
So, making sure we're sticking to those is always a good way to ensure that we have a safe flight.
Whenever we check back on an incident that we want to learn more about it's often the checklist that it comes back to that something wasn't you know fully taken care of before we flew that led us to a situation that was undesirable that we'd want to not repeat.
Shaheen:
Okay, so how do you anticipate drone use to evolve in your operations?
Paul:
So, right now given the technology available to us and the regulations available to us, I think we're where we want to be, but as the regulations and technology develop, we have opportunities I think in the future to maybe enhance our search and rescue capabilities.
When we have more high endurance drones that can cover longer distances for more time, they I think will prove themselves to be very useful in that situation.
Right now, they only fly for 20 or 30 minutes before the battery needs to be changed and we can't fly routinely beyond visual line of sight so we're limited there by the range we can get out of them, but you know as things change and evolve you know we have an opportunity there to maybe expand the use that we have in those situations.
Shaheen:
So, you mentioned flying beyond visual line of sight, do your operations right now, stick to visual line of sight or have you done any BVLOS operations?
Paul:
So, we've had a couple of instances in the past where we've had authorization to fly beyond visual line of sight.
Last summer in Manitoba there was a search for two-armed murder suspects in Northern Manitoba near Gillam, that was the first opportunity we had to get authorization from Transport Canada flight to fly beyond visual line of sight so we use drones to search for those subjects in the wilderness in Northern Manitoba for a few days.
That's the kind of work that we think we can really evolve into and grow into as the rules change and technology changes, but routine day-to-day operations right now are all visual line of sight.
Shaheen:
I understand the RCMP was credited with being one of the first organizations to use drones for a lifesaving operation in the world, maybe you can tell us a little bit more about that?
Paul:
Yes, so in 2013 it was kind of at the beginning stages of drone use and public safety and there was a single vehicle rollover in Saskatchewan in a rural area.
The police officers on scene could tell that someone had been injured in the crash and they were unable to locate anyone.
So, after a couple of hours of ground search, searching the immediate area around the vehicle we were unable to find anybody but by that point they had called in for a drone so by that point the drone was there and this individual who had suffered a head injury and was disoriented had wandered away from the vehicle and was almost two kilometers away.
It was freezing temperatures he lost his shoes and wasn't dressed for the weather, so, it probably wasn't looking good for him but the drone had a heat sensor on it and picked up a signal two kilometers away from the crash scene and we were able to direct our members there who were able to locate him and provide assistance to him and it was credited with or it was credited as being the first human life saved by a drone and the actual drone itself was donated to the National Air and Space Museum in the Smithsonian in Washington DC as the first ever drone to save a person.
Shaheen:
That's amazing, that's an incredible story it's really great to see you know Canadian innovation at the forefront of this.
So, is that kind of what started drone use in the RCMP?
Paul:
Drone use had begun three years prior to that, but that I think, I’m sure accelerated it especially in the public opinion of drones and you know showing the public how they could be used, it was a high-profile incident at the time and you know brought a light on what drones can do in a situation like that so I think it really opened a lot of eyes internally with the RCMP and externally in the public just as to how valuable this could be as a tool.
Shaheen:
Yeah, okay that's awesome so maybe you can tell us a little bit more about what an average day is like for someone on your drone team?
Paul:
So, nobody flies a drone full-time actually, so everybody has a regular job whether it be a police officer or a civilian doing another job within the RCMP who's a trained pilot, they have their day jobs and it's a strictly a call-out basis for our drone operators.
So, our police officer in a division for example will be doing his normal day-to-day duties and someone nearby will have a need for a drone and they'll call out for that service and he'll be able to pack up his drone start preparing his flight and attend the scene where he's needed and operate from there.
So, there's no real anybody that has a day to dedicate to doing the drones and it's not a full-time thing but the support that they're able to provide is usually quick and they it's not always predictable or planned but they do fly regularly out in the divisions where they're needed.
Shaheen:
Given that it's Drone Safety Day what does drone safety mean to the RCMP?
Paul:
Well, safety is really at the core of everything we do, we never want to repeat a situation that we've made a mistake in the past where we you know it's something that can easily be fixed or corrected through either our training or our operational procedures.
So, we have a philosophy of continuous improvement and we really focus on that in terms of how we train our people and how we develop our procedures for flying in that you know we never want to make the same mistake twice.
Shaheen:
So, as part of the RCMP’s RPAS program, drones are being used for collision reconstruction, so can you give us an example of a time where a drone used made a key difference?
Paul:
Yes, so one of my pilots was telling me last year about a scene that he attended and it was in a very remote area, there was only one survivor of the accident and that survivor didn't have any recollection of what happened so the drone was able to provide us with information that showed that the survivor was not at fault.
So, I mean in that situation you can imagine the relief it would be for that person who now knows that he wasn't responsible for the death of the other individuals.
So, stories like that, I mean the drones they aren't the solution to everything but they can often help us and help us determine what exactly happened which you know we don't always get that from the ground, we have theories and we can work things and we can you know get a good idea, but sometimes it's that key piece of evidence you get from the drone that gives you the missing information that you need to tie it all together.
Shaheen:
What role do drones play on your emergency response team?
Paul:
So, our emergency response teams they're responding to high-risk incidents usually where you know it's not always safe to peek around a corner or to get too close to something, so the drones are great tools for giving us a view of something that you know where it's not safe to put a person there so they really enhance the safety of our people on the ground by giving us an angle or perspective that they can't quite get in a safe way with the way they are.
It's they're great tools for situational awareness as well I mean they're able to provide live video to the people making on the ground making tactical decisions about our positioning and how we're going to approach the situation so being able to send that live feedback to our people making decisions.
So, they're able to make sure that our people are as safe as possible and the people involved in the incident are as safe as possible that's a huge benefit.
Shaheen:
So that's it for our interview with the RCMP. Thank you so much Paul for being here, was as a pleasure having you.
Paul:
You're welcome it's my pleasure as well.
Shaheen: We hope you found this webinar interesting, the other webinars in our Drone Safety Day pre-recorded webinar series will provide a high-level overview of the rules and explore the other cool and innovative ways drones are being used across Canada, be sure to check them out as well.
Got questions about safe drone operations or something you may have seen or heard during our webinars? Tune in to Transport Canada’s Twitter chat to be held on November 13th at 1 pm. We'll have a group of drone experts available on hand to answer any burning questions you may have - live.
Drone safety is everyone's Responsibility, to celebrate your own safety day tell us what drone safety means to you, share a photo, post, or story to your social media platforms with the hashtag dronesafetyday and check out Transport Canada's Twitter Facebook and Instagram to see what drone safety means to other Canadians.