The Wall Street Journal
By Jack Nicas
Updated Aug. 13, 2015 7:30 p.m. ET
Pilots are spotting drones in flight at a far higher rate than last year, U.S. regulators said, triggering authorities to step up efforts to prevent a midair collision as drones proliferate in U.S. skies.
The Federal Aviation Administration said pilots spotted drones while flying more than 650 times this year through Aug. 9, up from 238 sightings in nearly all of 2014. In June and July this year alone, pilots spotted 275 drones, up from 52 in those months last year.
Collection of data began in February 2014 and has improved over time, making comparisons tricky, but federal and local authorities concerned by the rising number of sightings are warning that drone operators who fly their devices too close to an aircraft face possible criminal charges and jail time.
“I’m not going to kid myself and think that there aren’t people out there that might be interested in causing some trouble,” FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said in an interview. “Anyone who thinks that it’s cool to fly an unmanned aircraft near a large commercial airliner on approach to an airport needs to understand that…we will find them.”
The FAA is investigating or has already fined operators in more than 20 cases of drones flying too close to aircraft. The Justice Department is assisting on some of those investigations. Federal criminal penalties for endangering an aircraft range up to a $25,000 fine and jail time.
Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said his office is investigating a string of drone sightings by passenger-jet pilots at New York’s La Guardia and John F. Kennedy International airports. Mr. Brown said his office can prosecute a drone operator for reckless endangerment, which carries a penalty of up to seven years in prison. “If, God forbid, someone takes down a commercial aircraft [with a drone], rest assured I will prosecute that case very vigorously,” he said.
The increase in sightings tracks the growing popularity of consumer drones, which are becoming cheaper, more advanced and easier to fly. Industry officials now estimate there are more than 1 million consumer drones in the U.S. Industries including farming, filmmaking and construction use the devices, but officials believe recreational drones accounted for the vast majority of pilot sightings.
Mr. Huerta said he believes uninformed operators are flying many of the drone spotted by pilots. The FAA and the drone industry are working to educate users with a public campaign called “Know Before You Fly” that explains the airspace rules, including that drones generally can’t fly above 400 feet or within 5 miles of an airport. Some companies also have mobile apps that tell users if they can fly where they are, and the FAA says it is developing one.
Some consumer drones already include software that prevents them from flying near airports or above certain altitudes, and some federal lawmakers are pushing legislation to require such software on all consumer drones.
Still, some aviation experts doubt drones pose much of a threat to manned aircraft, particularly large commercial jets.
“People tend to forget how big the sky is and how small these little quadcopters are,” said the FAA’s former top drone official, Jim Williams, who now advises companies that use and make drones for the law firm Dentons. “Every airplane is designed to take a hit from a 5-pound bird and keep flying. If an engine eats [a drone], it’ll be expensive to fix. But the likelihood of one of these little guys taking down an aircraft is very remote.”
Helicopters are most at risk, Mr. Williams said, because they are less stable than planes and operate at low altitudes, where there are more drones.
On Wednesday, a medical helicopter transporting a snakebite victim near Fresno, Calif., had to swerve to avoid a drone while it was flying about 1,000 feet above ground, the FAA said. The helicopter’s crew estimated the drone passed just 20 feet away, said Todd Valeri, co-owner of the medical-copter company. “Had there been a collision, it could’ve been catastrophic,” he said.
Michael Drobac, head of the Small UAV Coalition, a drone-advocacy group, said the industry is trying to be proactive to make their devices safe because “any kind of close call or incident would absolutely be devastating” for the industry. He called on the FAA to set clearer rules for drones, saying bad actors must be halted. “The technology is never guilty; there are operators that are guilty,” he said.
The FAA said it collects much of the drone-sighting data from reports to air-traffic controllers by pilots of commercial jets, small private planes and helicopters. The agency began tracking drone sightings in early 2014 and improved its collection of such data throughout the year, making year-to-year comparisons less reliable.
“Last year’s data would be much less certain because the process wasn’t in place,” said Mr. Williams, who left the FAA in June. “Some of what you’re seeing year-over-year is just an increase in reporting.”
Original article can be found here: http://www.wsj.com
This medical helicopter, shown in a photo provided by SkyLife Air Ambulance, nearly collided with a drone above Fresno, Calif., this week, according to the crew onboard. Photo: Brett Schoenwald/SkyLife Air Ambulance
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