KUALA LUMPUR, 20 November 2019: The Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia has issued a statement on its Facebook Page barring a scheduled drone flight from taking place. The Chinese-made drone is purported to be the first flying car for Malaysia. The statement is as follows:
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2019
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASERESTRICTION ON THE DEMONSTRATION TEST FLIGHT
OF UAS E-HANG 216PUTRAJAYA – The Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) would like to announce that the planned test flight of UAS E-Hang 216 (EH216) scheduled for 21st November 2019 has not been authorized by CAAM.
The location of the test flight at the UNIKL MIAT Hangar Subang is less than 200 meters away from commercial airline and helicopter traffic and clearly within the Subang Airport Terminal Control Zone that is under strict supervision by Air Traffic Control.
In addition to this, the EH216 was only issued a Special Flight Permit (SFP) by its State of Design (Civil Aviation Administration of China) which is limited to conduct Research & Development Flights in Grand World Science Park, Guangzhou.
CAAM is also carrying out an investigation into the unauthorized demonstration flight involving an EH216 on 15th November 2019 at the same area within Subang Airport.
As much as CAAM supports the development of the aerospace industry in Malaysia, test and demonstration flights must be carried out in accordance with the Malaysian Civil Aviation Regulation 2016 (MCAR 2016) to ensure safety.
CAAM would also like to state that we are open to consider the request for a test flight of the EH216 at an appropriate location, and with the support of the aircraft’s State of Design.