Million Drones Will Be Sold This Christmas, And The FAA Is Terrified

Now, airport officials are meeting to see what they can do to crack down on illegal drone use, as it’s becoming an increasingly unsafe problem across the country.

“Keep it a safe distance away from airports or any aircraft that’s in the sky and not flying over pedestrians”.

The issue of drones being near aircrafts is being addressed by the Federal Aviation Administration. In the past three months, there have been seven instances when unauthorized drones have flown at altitudes up to 3,660 feet, including one that was approximately 500 feet from a plane approaching the airport. “Safety is the No. 1 priority at Denver worldwide Airport, and this working group will enable us to pool our collective resources and knowledge with our federal and regional partners to address this emerging technology”.

In response to the rise in incidents, the FAA released a rather lackluster PSA Wednesday warning operators against flying UAVs near manned aircraft, and last week tweeted reminders for Philadelphia Pope-watchers to leave their drones at home.

“You can not fly within five miles of any type of commercial or general aviation airport in the U.S.”, the FAA’s Joe Morra said. Turns out, there’s an app for that.

The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems worldwide (AUVSI), a trade group representing the drone industry, also wants the FAA to crack down on errant operators and for the agency to finalize delayed regulations for commercial operators, which would require safety training among other things. “It is also against the law to fly more than 400 feet above the ground with the drones”.

The group plans to ramp up their public education effort ahead of the holiday season when they expect many Americans will be getting drones as gifts.