Swiss drone incidents nearly doubled in 2017: authority

The number of drones seen by pilots or air traffic control in the airspace around Switzerland rose sharply last year as the popularity of the unmanned aircraft rose, the Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA) said.

Most of the reported incidents involving drones concern sightings by aircraft crews, said the FOCA in its latest annual safety review.

For 2017, the aviation office received 85 reports from pilots or air traffic controllers concerning drone sightings, with 36 of these reports coming from passenger aircraft and 14 concerned incidents at foreign airports.

The FOCA said the number of incidents reported for last year was almost double that of the previous year which was 48.

Sales of drones, especially in the hobby sector, have increased sharply in the past few years. It is currently estimated that around 100,000 drones have been sold in Switzerland, but the exact number of these devices in use in Switzerland is not known, said the aviation authority.

Concerns had been raised over drones in airspace after a private drone and a business jet bound for Turkey came dangerously close to each other over Bern in late June.

Last year, a drone nearly collided with an Airbus A330 at Zurich Airport.

The FOCA said that a first collision had already been reported, between a small drone and a helicopter in May. The helicopter was able to land but its rotor blade was damaged.

"This resulted in damages amounting to tens of thousands of Swiss francs. This could have consequences for drone pilots. The question arises: will the insurance pay for this?" FOCA's Urs Holderegger said in an interview with Swiss public television SRF.

FOCA's Annual Safety Report this year said that the increasing trend of incident reports involving drones appears to be persisting.

But Holderegger said that the drone boom looks like slowing down, which could mean fewer near-miss accidents.