Drone ‘Hot Spots’ Raise Concerns Over Midair Collision Hazards

[system]

Originally published at: Drone ‘Hot Spots’ Raise Concerns Over Midair Collision Hazards - AVweb

A new Embry-Riddle study reveals growing drone activity across the U.S., identifying airports, heliports and residential areas as key hot spots for potential midair collisions with manned aircraft.

[StephenLeonard]

I’ve been dismayed for a decade over the aviation world’s enthusiastic embrace of drones, with woefully inadequate oversight, regulation, or disciplinary procedures. More and more pilots report close encounters with drones clearly flying where they shouldn’t, and more than a few have reported collisions and damage to aircraft, though I am not aware - yet - of any fatalities.

There should be mandatory, heavy penalties for flying an unauthorized drone within five miles of any airport. It should be much easier for law enforcement at any level, and even appropriately credentialed security guards, to remotely disable any drone perceived to be a threat, or even a persistent nuisance or threat to privacy. The technology exists, bureaucratic and legal obstructionism are the only impediments.

Militarized drones are a whole different threat, and their use in today’s conflicts around the world is sobering. But at least in what should be our safe, civilian world, this out-of-control threat needs to be contained.

[ssobol]

It is legal to fly higher than 400 feet if you are operating near a taller object. For example, tower inspections. There is no requirement for a “professional drone” when doing work like this. Your 4K Mavic 4 works just fine for tower inspections.
Not identifying or segregating out operations that have waivers or exemptions seems like a deliberate effort to make the problem seem worse than it may actually be (or laziness on the part of the study authors).