I'm sure you already know this as it is public information on TC site; In Canada Drone pilots must carry a valid drone pilot certificate and only fly drones that are marked and registered. If you are flying a drone that is less than 250 grams, you do not need to register the drone or get a drone pilot certificate. Above and up to 25 kgs you do.
That being said, a good friend of mine well known cinematographer & director in the film industry, attempted to get his drone pilot license 3 times and only passed the written exam on the 4th attempt. He reached out to me for guidance. The issue was that he didn't have the mindset of an aviator and conditioned to understanding the lingo of the questions asked in the exam.
Even with a license, I'm not sure if the drone is registered to the drone pilot/owner. A step further would be to have legislation to tie in that a +250 gram drone to the pilot. Another step further would be have transponders on the drone that will identify it with a unique code that ties to the owner accompanied with their cel number for immediate adherence by air traffic control with a simple phone call followed up with protentional fines and or seizure of their license. This way everyone is immediately held accountable in real time.
If gun owners have to register their weapons and be responsible for proper use of their guns...would the drone also be considered a deadly weapon if reckless behavior was conducted by the owner of drones capable of flying 20,000 and up?
I'm not well versed in current drone laws so perhaps everything I've said is already in play. Not sure.
Thanks for politely engaging us on the topic. ANd yes...I too had a near miss over LaGuardia NYC. We went by it very quickly, didn't see it until we whizzed by it on my left hand side flying an jet airliner with 76 passengers. Frightening to say the least.
