The People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force will collaborate with civil aviation and public security authorities to strengthen the management of drones flying at low attitude, a PLA Air Force spokesperson said on Wednesday, after the air force caught a drone flying without permission in North China's Hebei Province.
Shen Jinke, spokesperson for the PLA Air Force, said on Wednesday that the local air force in Zhuozhou, Hebei detected a drone flying in low-altitude airspace on Tuesday during a helicopter training session and forced it to land, according to a statement published on the air force's official Weibo account.
The drone belongs to a Beijing company that allegedly owns several other drones, it said, adding that related personnel and the drone have been transferred to local police.
Shen added that airspace security is relevant to national and public security as well as to public well-being. The right of flight in accordance with the law should go hand in hand with obligations to safeguard flight safety.
A Xinjiang-based company was fined 20,000 yuan ($3,134) after its drone conducted a geological survey without permission in May, Nanfang Daily reported in October.
There are over 20,000 drones in China, but most of them are operated illegally, news outlet cnr.cn reported. At a forum on the sidelines of an expo in Beijing in September, several Chinese and foreign experts called for the urgent implementation of specific regulations on the drone industry to avoid social problems caused by unlicensed flights, including terror attacks.
