Senators push to fence in drones to keep them in check Bart Jansen
An analysis of 891
WASHINGTON drone sightings reported to the Federal Aviation Administration over a 17-month period found more than half flew too close to an airport, prompting lawmakers to renew calls Wednesday to tag the remote-controlled aircraft with electronic collars that would keep them away.
Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D- Calif., and Charles Schumer, DN.Y., want “geofencing ” software that works like electronic collars for pets to keep drones from wandering in front of passenger planes.
FAA reports from April 1, 2014, through Aug. 20, 2015, indicate 248 drones came within 500 feet of a passenger plane.
The FAA says hobbyists should fly drones no higher than 400 feet, away from other aircraft and at least 5 miles from an airport unless they have permission from air-traffic controllers. FAA re- ports show the most violations in California with 182, Florida with 103, New York with 89, Texas with 47, Massachusetts with 35.
Highly publicized sightings of drones by airline pilots approaching busy New York-area airports John F. Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark raised alarms about the potential for collisions. The U.S. Forest Service also grounded firefighting flights periodically this summer after pilots noticed drones flying near them as high as 10,000 feet.
Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, a former US Airways captain who landed a jet safely on the Hudson River in 2009 after a collision with geese shut down his engines, said he’s worried about “the explosion in reports of drones being flown dangerously close to airports and airplanes, and at alarmingly high altitudes.”
The Academy of Model Aeronautics, which represents 180,000 hobbyists, has raised questions about the pilot reports to FAA, saying birds and balloons were sometimes mistaken for drones.
Pilots rarely reported close calls or taking evasive action, the group said.