Open skies: authority says nothing to stop drones being flown near racecourses

The unwelcome presence of drones on racecourses, which has led to safety concerns among some in the sport, could continue for the foreseeable future providing users are not breaking the rules set out by government.

The Civil Aviation Authority said on Wednesday that drones had as much right to be in the 'uncontrolled airspace' around a racecourse as aircraft.

Recent incidents at Haydock and Leicester of drones being sighted during racing have led to safety concerns, voiced by jockey Tom Scudamore, around helicopters ferrying people, including jockeys, trainers and owners, to and from courses.

Drones are being used to film races and provide an advantage over TV feeds for in-running punters.

Jonathan Nicholson, assistant director of communications for the Civil Aviation Authority on Tuesday explained how drones are allowed to fly in close proximity to racecourses.

Under the rules, a drone must be flown below 400 foot (120 metres) and stay a minimum of 150ft (50m) away from people and properties. That rises to 500ft (150m) for crowds and built up areas such as a grandstand.

While racecourses can be frequented by light aircraft and helicopters during a meeting, because the airspace is not regulated, drones are perfectly entitled to be in the vicinity.

He said: "If users are breaking any of the rules of the drone code, then that is something the police can investigate if there is a complaint, they are the enforcing agents.

"From an aviation perspective, if it is what we call uncontrolled airspace, which is airspace not used by airliners and it is not near an airport, then the drone has as much right to be there as the aircraft,"

Nicholson added. "There's no priority for the aircraft, they are equal airspace users."

Although unable to give a definitive answer, Nicholson felt it was unlikely any British racecourses would fall into controlled airspace.

While the legality of filming racing is not an area the CAA is involved in, should a drone be flown for profit then the user must have a CAA drone licence.

Nicholson said: "If the user knows before they fly the drone they're going to make money from it or be paid for it that would come under commercial use and they would need approval from us as an operator."

It is not known whether the drones flying at Haydock and Leicester were being used commercially, and around 4,000 individuals in Britain have been licensed.

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