Free drone skies raise plane-crash risk - lithium battery manufacturers
Experts warn that under the new rules, commercial aircraft and helicopters will face the risk of a catastrophic drone crash.
The new law, which came into effect on Thursday, was billed as cutting red tape for commercial drone operators.
But Joseph Wheeler, a special aviation consultant at Morris Blackburn law firm, warned that they would allow anyone with experience to fly into the sky on cheap drones.
"The risk of a drone colliding with a passenger plane and a helicopter will increase significantly," he told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday . ".
If the law is not prohibited in Parliament, he is considering a challenge to the court.
"The message conveyed by the rules is leniency, deregulation and freedom of the sky," he said . ".
Australian aviation pilot Federation president David Booth was warned to use drones while driving a Boeing 737 in northern Sydney.
In the past month, Sydney Airport operations have been restricted twice, when drones were found near the path.
"It's not a good feeling to know that this drone is in your airspace.
"You don't know where it's under control and you don't know where it's going to go," he told reporters . ".
He said it could be disastrous for a drone to hit the tail oars of a helicopter, while a drone trapped in a jet engine could cause an engine failure or a lithium battery fire.
The new regulations allow anyone to drive a commercial drone weighing less than two kilograms without a CAAC certificate and license without having to pay about $1400.
The head of an unmanned aircraft operator group said the small aircraft had been commercially available in Australia for more than a decade without serious accidents.
Joe Urli, president of certified Australian drone operators, said red tape is a safety measure, and the more it takes away, the more risks airlines and the public face.
"Now, with commercial manufacturing of commercial cheap drones flooding the market, anyone can operate on a commercial level, the dangers and hazards are unknown and cannot be quantified," he said . ".