DRONES

Last week I did a story for ABC TV Phoenix on Drones and what to expect. As of December 21, all drone owners, owning a drone weighing just over 1/2 pound, will be required to register with the FAA and receive a number. This number is good for all owned drones and must be applied to the drone in some fashion.

Soon it will be Christmas morning and 500,000 to 1,000,000 new drones will be under the tree. Can you imagine what a young child wants to do as soon as they unwrap their new drone. Will they register with the FAA or go out and fly it!

The law states that you must not fly a drone in controlled airspace and not fly it over 400 feet. The FAA has again been reactive and not proactive as usual. The FAA could have required all drone manufactures to place an altitude restriction on drones so they could not fly over 400 feet. The FAA could have also required a GPS chip restricting any drone operations in controlled airspace, but now the horse is out of the barn. The FAA could have also required that each drone operator take a safety video so that operators would know the rules and regulations of operation. A key could be provided that unlocks the drone for flying after successful completion of this course. The FAA has blown it again...but this is nothing new for the FAA.

Drones have the ability to fly up to thousands of feet in altitude. There have already been reported drone sightings near several airports and at altitude. A drone could be easily ingested into a jet engine or cause damage to an airplane. Unfortunately it is not of a case of this not happening, but when it will happen. In my opinion when this occurs, and if an airliner is brought down, private drones will be outlawed.