Pilots from a variety of aircraft reported 650 drone sightings this year through August. 9, compared with 238 sightings in all of 2014, the FAA announced Thursday.
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“The FAA recently has seen a significant increase in pilot reports of unmanned aircraft near airports”, the agency said in the statement, without giving a total.
The FAA says that in June, for example, 138 pilots reported drones at altitudes of up to 10,000 feet.
The San Jose Police Department is one step closer to using a drone for hostage or search-and-rescue incidents. One pilot said that a drone traveled right underneath the nose of the plane at 800 feet.
In the past week, there have been five reported drone sightings.
While there is a risk of police misusing the drone as they would a wiretap or tracking device, Liccardo said, “the reality is if we need the tool we should have the tool”. State Assemblyman Mike Gatto says, given that, “imagine a drone which is made of metal and hard plastic and how damaging that can be to a firefighting aircraft”.
Operators who get caught flying drones near aircraft could be subject to stiff fines and criminal charges, which could bring jail time. For more than a year, Google has been quietly operating its drones in America under NASA’s Certificate of Waiver or Authorization (COA), a program originally intended for government agencies. This means that local drone dealers who have years of experience flying drones can not legally teach their customers to fly their newly purchased drones, even if the lesson is done for free.
WTOC’s parent company – Raycom Media – prohibits the use of drones by its news stations, at least until the FAA clarifies the rules that apply to them.
The FAA is working with the commercial industry and hobbyists on an educational campaign called “Know Before You Fly”, to notify pilots where they can operate within the rules. The second drone was flying along side an Austin-bound American Airline flight at 2,500 feet in the air.
The agency said it now has “dozens” of open enforcement cases.
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Drone expert Matt Mishak, President of the Northern Ohio Unmanned Aerial Systems Association, said new FAA drone regulations are expected next year, but proving there was a crime like trespassing with a drone is hard.
