A study published by Aero Kinetics, an Aerospace and Defence firm, reveals the safety impact and risks of drones in commercial airline airspace.

The study, entitled ‘The Real Consequences of Flying Toy Drones in the National Airspace System,’ explores how dangerous unregulated drones can be to the aerospace industry and consumers.

The conclusion is that drones post a significant threat to manned rotorcraft in all phases of flight, including cruise, based upon their typical operating altitudes.

Sqn Ldr James, the RAF station’s flight safety officer, fears the remote-control aircraft will become a major concern for the aviation industry in the UK.

“My biggest concern is that some can fly up to 400ft, or beyond if you push them, and that is the height that my helicopters fly,” he said. “I think it’s only a matter of time before a drone and a helicopter meet.”

And for those who think the idea of a small electronic device bringing down a manned aircraft sounds fanciful, Sqn Ldr James points to a crash in Norfolk last year, when a US Air Force Helicopter was brought down by a flock of geese which crashed into the windscreen, killing four servicemen.

“Some of these drones can be anything up to 20kg. A typical goose is just three or four kilograms, and that killed four people.”

Aberdeen Heliport is the busiest in the world handling over 37,000 rotary wing movements per year carrying 468,000 passengers annually. With hundreds of thousands of drones already sold in the UK the risk to North Sea Helicopters is clear.

W. Hulsey Smith, CEO of Aero Kinetics said: “Make no mistake lives are at stake. This study is meant to bring the risk into perspective, and inform consumers of the dangers that exist.”

The study examined what will happen when a collision occurs between a toy drone and a manned aircraft, including the potential for damage and death. The study further compared a toy drone strike with historical data on bird strikes, which are proven to cause significant damage to manned aircraft and loss of human life.

2015 saw 13,668 cases of aircraft striking birds and other wildlife, according to an FAA report. The number in the UK 750 Per year. The impacts destroyed 67 aircraft, most of them privately owned smaller planes, and caused an estimated £308 million in direct and indirect losses, the report said.

The study concludes that the impact of a drone, made of plastic, metal, and engineered materials, with a manned aircraft in a collision would be even more catastrophic.

“The drone industry is not regulated in the same manner unmanned aircraft are in the aerospace industry,” said W. Hulsey Smith.

The solution, the company said, is multi-fold, including educating the public, doing additional testing, creating dedicated operating areas, monitoring air-traffic to separate flight space, and understanding and implementing effective standards for certification.