Feature: Fighter furore puts China's drone safety in the picture

When a small "Phantom" drone filmed an air force jet fighter on its landing in north China, the footage became an Internet hit.

The airborne camera had been hovering just a few hundred meters from the warplane, making for fascinating video when the owner posted it online by the year end 2015.

It also drew attention to Shenzhen-based Da-jiang Innovations (DJI), one of China's leading drone manufacturers.

Far from being pleased with the publicity, however, DJI joined a chorus of voices calling for a strict safety regime for drone flights and condemning irresponsible activity.

The Ministry of National Defense issued a stern rebuke to the operator: "Unmanned aircraft should not be out of control," spokesman Wu Qian said at a press conference in late November 2015.

He warned that illegal drone flights posed a threat to national and public security, flight safety and air defense.

DJI, which prides itself on its reputation of making high-performance but low-cost small drones, echoed the sentiment.

"DJI doesn't want to see the unsafe or illegal drone flights affect the whole industry and our users," says DJI vice-president Hank Shao.

FLYING HIGH

About 400 companies are estimated to be operating in China's burgeoning civilian drone industry and about 200,000 civilian drones are thought in use nationwide.

DJI's "Phantom" series has been listed by the Economist magazine as one of the world's most influential robots.

Founded in 2006, DJI claims to have more than 70 percent of the global markets for civilian drones. And in China, its market share was even higher.

But with rapid growth have come major new concerns.

In last June, strong winds forced a drone taking aerial photos to go out of control and it fell on to an elevated rail track in east China's Nanjing city, delaying the trains. In July, a drone fell on a parked car. Although neither incident caused any casualties, they raised serious questions about drone management and safety.

"To meet surging drone operations and safety risks, the Chinese Society of Aeronautics and Astronautics (CSAA) will set up a professional board to provide guidance and tech-support to the remotely-piloted aircraft system (RPAS)," CSAA secretary general Wu Song said in response.

SAFETY FIRST

DJI's reaction includes building a Safety Management Service Platform for RPAS control, which it is offering to open to the authorities and other companies in the industry.

Based on the mobile Internet, the platform enables regulators, drone manufacturers and operators to communicate instantly.

Operators of registered drones connected to the platform can apply for flight authorization and obtain the latest information and warnings about flight areas.

Meanwhile, regulators can monitor flight areas and control activity within them.

The authorities can send out warnings about restricted flight zones, and users can gain a clear understanding of the flying area and the status of nearby flights.

As a final resort, it also helps law enforcement agencies trace operators who break the rules

"When regulators find illegal uses of drones, they can search for and obtain evidence using mobile devices," Shao says.

The company is also integrating new technologies into production of its drones.

Encryption measures will ensure the management platform is more resistant to interference.

DJI has added safeguards to avoid risks caused by users who modify their aircraft, and cooperates with parts suppliers by setting safety agreements for core parts.

"Never underestimate the regular users and fans of the civilian drones," says Shao.

"Some may have carefully studied source programs and intend to transform or assemble their own drones." Endi