THE FLYING OF unmanned aerial vehicles near Changshui International Airport in Kunming, capital of Southwest China's Yunnan province, have been reported in recent days, along with similar occurrences in other cities such as Shenzhen and Mianyang. Beijing Youth Daily commented on Monday:

If an airplane hits a drone or one is drawn into an engine, it may cause a crash. Therefore, in accordance with the law, no unmanned aerial vehicles are allowed within the airspace of an area 40 kilometers by 20 kilometers centered on the runways at an airport.

However, with the recent rapid development of unmanned aerial vehicles and their growing popularity, they have become a threat to the safety of commercial flights. The drones that violate the security area around airports are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the illegal use of drones.

According to the relevant regulations, those "piloting" drones must be certified and they should only fly indoors or fly at low altitudes within sight of their operators outdoors. Otherwise, in most cases, the UAV operators must apply for permission from the civil aviation authorities to fly the drones.

The reality at the moment, in contrast, is there are thousands of certified pilots of unmanned aerial vehicles, but tens of thousands of uncertified "pilots".

It is imperative to stop the illegal flights of unmanned aerial vehicles by first establishing essential regulations for technology and manufacturing standards. Then based on these regulations, the local and state legislative and law enforcement departments have to ensure the process of researching, producing, selling and using the vehicles is put on the right track.