it would be fantastic ...
"it would be fantastic if the plod could set a good example."
Fantastic, it would be, but, in real life, it's a fantasy.
Like police perps everywhere, I assume the most they have to fear is a stern talking to.
A police drone hit and significantly damaged a Cessna coming in for landing in Canada earlier this month. According to an incident report compiled by the nation's transport officials, Ontario's York Police crashed a drone into the light aircraft during the latter's final approach to runway 15 at Toronto's Buttonville airport …
York Region Police are known locally for being the most corrupt and needlessly violent force you'll ever meet. The horror stories are almost daily and they blue wall literally everything. Pilot probably got a bonus for doing this because he "put them dirty civvies in their place".
To give you an idea, there was a guy on the force recently who was stealing weapons from evidence to rob known drug warehouses and sell the drugs and guns to street gangs. He only got caught because the RCMP happened upon him, he would have been just fine otherwise.
Something like 15% of the gun crimes in the area are committed with guns "lost" from police evidence or weapons lockers.
80 tons yes TONS of heroin "lost" from various police evidence lockups.
Hundreds of police with cars/houses they couldn't possibly afford on their salary......
Refusal of internal investigators to audit a SINGLE police officer for this......
Because the bad cops know where the skeletons are buried. Literally and metaphorically.
I've heard one of them comment that failing to take steroids means you're not doing your job, which probably helps explain the general level of mental stability they have.
I also love that their response to people asking why hundreds of pieces of evidence a year go missing was to stop publishing the statistic.
In NSW the Cessna pilot will be charged for flying without due care and attention, damaging police property, failing to stop after an accident and if the drone was being used in active case, obstructing police in their duties and accessory to whatever was being investigated.
A prop strike means the engine needs to be removed, dismantled to the crankshaft, and carefully inspected. It's usually a toss-up to if it's cheaper to buy a new engine, and insurance usually instantly totals it.
I wonder if the owner (or insurance company) has any recourse for the costs?
"Also, can someone tell me if this incident occurred in controlled airspace? "
It was on final approach and local ATC stated they were not informed of the Police drone activity which implies they expected and should have been notified so I'd say yes, the Police drone was operating not only in controlled airspace, but directly in a flightpath.
One of the very few (only?) confirmed drone strikes and it's law enforcement controlling the drone illegally.
I'm kinda wiped at the moment, but IIRC Buttonville is still VFR. They DO have ATC, just not a literal tower. Why I know is a rather long, weird, twisted story that involved getting very old cell phone tech to work (reliably) in a small plane while switching towers every 2 minutes or so.
..... the authorities finally have a proven, documented example of a drone damaging a civilian aircraft and all you can do is moan!
Seriously, now the police can spend shed loads of cash on new toys, err, tools to enforce the laws that will inevitably be brought in to tackle this menace.
A large cop drone causes a dent in a Cessna. Phew, thank heaven we have compulsory registration for drones over 250 grammes ... because ... smaller dents.
But seriously, WTF did they think they were doing flying a drone through the approach path without warning local ATC? They don't even appear to be claiming they were pursuing a suspect.
Not to mention, if the Cessna was on final approach, they were in airspace where many (most?) civilian drones refuse to fly.
I don't own a drone, but I have friends that do. One of them tried to fly his drone at a friend's rural property. He was befuddled as to why the drone refused to fly, until he discovered that a nearby lake was classified as a seaplane base.