Disabled cancer patient allegedly told to break aviation law or lose his business

Amelia Jones 

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is facing accusations of institutional recklessness after allegedly instructing a disabled cancer patient to breach UK aviation law as part of an application for disability support.

The claim has been made by Markus Cox, owner of Wales-based firm Calon Terra Digital Aerial Intelligence, which specialises in drone and aerial imaging solutions.

After being diagnosed with Stage 2 Kidney Cancer, POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome), and Neuropathy in December 2025, he requires essential assistive AI technology to continue operating his drone business.

His medical condition restricts him to only 10 minutes of standing (with walking stick), up to 1 hour of sitting (using a specialised pressure-relief cushion), and lying flat as the only sustainable position for cognitive work.

He is scheduled for partial nephrectomy surgery at Southmead Hospital on 6 February 2026 to remove the tumour.

When Cox applied for funding this reasonable adjustment under the Equality Act 2010 through the government’s Access to Work scheme, he says DWP officials refused to provide the assistive AI technology that enables him to operate his licensed drones within his physical limits.

Instead, in a refusal email dated 27 November 2025, a DWP case manager instructed Cox to reassign his mandatory safety observer – a role required by Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) regulations to maintain continuous visual contact during drone flights – to perform manual data entry tasks.

The email stated: “The manual part of the role could be carried out by the other crew member.”

The “other crew member” is Cox’s carer, who also serves as the mandatory Visual Observer (VO) under CAA regulations.

The VO is legally required to maintain continuous, unaided visual monitoring of the drone to ensure flight safety.

Reassigning the VO during flight removes this critical safety safeguard and breaches Article 241 of the Air Navigation Order 2016, constituting a criminal offence punishable by unlimited fines and possible imprisonment.

Additionally, the “other crew member” is a recipient of Carer’s Allowance. Instructing them to perform unpaid commercial labour violates the Social Security Administration Act 1992 and effectively solicits benefit fraud.

When Cox challenged this instruction, he says the DWP issued a formal decision letter that omitted the illegal instruction

He also raised the issue with the Government’s Legal Department, and after 62 days of ignored submissions and full awareness of the claimants condition, they wrote: “There are no apparent reasons for urgency.”

At the time of the refusal, Mr Cox had just begun a 12-month research and development partnership with a nationwide construction company to develop AI-enhanced aerial inspection systems.

Cox, who has since issued a tribunal appeal, said the DWP’s delay has placed this collaboration and his entire business at immediate risk.

Speaking about this decision, Cox added: “The DWP didn’t just deny me a grant. They told me to break the law—or watch my business die.

“I have Stage 2 cancer. I collapsed unconscious at a construction site trying to work without the support they refused. A builder had to stop traffic to keep me from being run over.

“I am scheduled for surgery at Southmead Hospital on 6 February to remove the tumour. And their official legal position—just days before my operation—is that there is ‘no urgency’ to resolve this.

“They instructed my registered carer to perform unpaid commercial labour—inciting benefit fraud—and told me to fly drones without safety observers, risking a mid-air collision. This is not bureaucracy; it is dangerous negligence.”

When asked for comment, DWP spokesperson said: “We are unable to comment on individual cases that are subject to legal action.”