## Date: March 31 2023 Subject: RE: Follow-up: Buttonville Drone Accident Hi Jack - back in November 2021 I emailed you about a police drone hitting a Cessna 172N at Buttonville airport in Toronto. The investigation report was released. https://www.tsb.gc.ca/eng/enquetes-investigations/aviation/2021/a21o0069/a21o0069.html An excerpt from the report: "Due to the nature of the police operation underway, which involved a potentially armed individual, the RPA pilot felt a sense of urgency to get the RPA airborne as soon as possible. As well, the RPA pilot had not observed any traffic in the area during the setup of the RPA and had heard no recent transmissions on the hand-held VHF radio. As a result, the RPA pilot did not request authorization. " Another paragraph outlining checklist usage: "On the day of the occurrence, the RPA pilot did not retrieve the checklist from the storage box and did not refer to any written checklist during either flight leading up to the occurrence, relying on memory to accomplish the checklist items." Repeat: drones operated by Public Service is Canada have no exemptions from Canadian Aviation Regulations. The York Regional Police's own Command Directive for RPA operations states "that all RPA pilots shall follow the regulations as prescribed in Part IX of the Canadian Aviation Regulations (CARs) and outlines the roles and responsibilities of YRP members as well as the checklist to be used during RPA operations." In conclusion: "the RPA pilot decided to forego seeking authorization for this flight in order to provide more timely imagery to his colleagues, who were waiting nearby" Drone "get-there-itis". A monetary fine was issued to the York Regional Police. A video summary also https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TxaWvqWjuA Sincerely, Constantine