Flying a drone “anywhere near” an airplane can bring criminal charges and fines up to $25,000, according to the FAA.
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Even without a collision, near-flying drones can distract pilots.
As drones become more and more popular, the FAA is trying to figure out how to regulate them. Incidents like this provoked the U.S. Forest Service to rush out a public information campaign to warn drone operators, “If you fly, we can’t”.
The FAA noted that firefighters battling wildfire blazes in the western part of the country have been forced to ground their operations on several occasions for safety reasons when they spotted one or more unmanned aircraft in their immediate vicinity.
The bill, introduced in June, gives the FAA 18 months to tighten up regulation of consumer drones used for hobby/recreational purposes.
The number of cases in which aircraft pilots have reported near-collisions with a drone – most of them homemade quadcopters – increased fourfold in July and eightfold in June, compared with the same months in 2014, the Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA, said. But sources said options include measures to support new technology to track and disable rogue drones, compel operators to undergo training or register their unmanned aircraft before flying, and require drones to have transponders or other features that would allow authorities to identify unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, in flight. Whitaker said any commercial business still waiting for drone license approval can hire a company that already has one. As of now, there have been 1,201 petitions granted, mostly for movie production, agriculture and real estate photography.
The drone industry and the FAA have begun a “Know Before You Fly” education program to remind drone buyers of the rules, and at least some manufacturers have agreed to package the material with their drones.
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With numerous wildfire aviation resources, there are TFR’s (Temporary Flight Restrictions) in place.
