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Rise in drone hazards irritate pilots, concerns officials
Description: Many pilots are reporting are reporting close calls with drones. There have been nearly triple the amount of reports of drones flying near aircraft in 2015 than 2014.
Importance/Relevance: Drones are being used more recreationally than before causing problems that hardly existed before. According to the article "So far this year, pilots have reported drones flying near their aircraft at least 650 times, nearly triple all of 2014." That's a lot of near-misses in a short time frame. -
Pentagon planning more drone usage over the next several years
Description: To combat escalating aggression from Russia and China the Pentagon is planning to increase drone usage over the next several years.
Importance/Relevance: "...which had been running about 65 combat air patrol missions a day - asked to decrease that number to 60 because of stress on the force. But 60 patrols don't come close to meeting the demands of top military commanders facing growing security threats around the world." This highlights the importance of drones to our military. -
New push to regulate drones with close calls on the rise
Description: The FAA announced that it was going to take action against drones, saying that the government needs to regulate them before something bad happens.
Importance/Relevance: The article stated "As of Sept. 27, the FAA had logged 920 reports of drone sightings this year, most coming from commercial or general aviation pilots." As previously mentioned, the number of close calls is on a large uptick, which exploits the dangers of recreational drones. -
The future of drones: Uncertain, promising, and pretty awesome
Description: Tech giants and various companies such as Amazon, are now starting to get permission to test the possible uses of drones for shipping purposes.
Importance/Relevance: This article showed the impact drones used for shipping could have all over the world. The article provided an example of the shipping ability when it said " Australian startup Flirtey, in partnership with Virginia Tech and NASA, used a drone to carry 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms)." -
FAA lays out drone regristration, vehicle marking rules
Description: Numerous reports of drones flying near jets and airports caused the government to require that the aircraft be registered to make it easier to identify owners and educate amateur aviators.
Importance/Relevance: This new registration system shows that the government see's the upside to drone usage, but also understand the risks involved. The article says "The FAA prohibits drones and model airplanes from flying higher than 400 feet or within 5 miles of an airport."
