You may not yet see drones every day, but if society figures it out, one day you will. Drones are already beginning to revolutionize medical transplants, carbon emissions, and, one day, circumventing automobile traffic via air taxis.
For that to become a reality, we must work to circumvent ignorance and disregard toward safe flying practices. Because when it comes to a careless or conscientious drone operator, the difference can be life or death.
Drones in dangerous proximity to aircraft is a common headline. Frankfurt, Gatwick, Dubai, Heathrow, Dublin, and Newark all headlined news in the last five months for near-misses—most notably Gatwick, which shut down for 30 hours, affected 100,000 passengers, and cost airlines over $60M.
There are over 1 million registered drones in the United States, and estimates double when it comes to unregistered ones. The drone airspace today is similar to the US when commercial aviation was burgeoning and there was no Air Traffic Control. For drones, there is no system in place to identify and authorize who’s flying drones, where they’re doing it, and why. So there’s an inherent risk to what flies above us.
What’s the root of drone threats?
Most drones aren’t threats, but the ones that do pose risk can appear harmless. Though terrorists and criminal actors have and will continue to use drones for malicious reasons, the most pressing risk today comes from ignorant or flippant drone operators. Russ Butler, Vice President of Security for the San Francisco 49ers and Levi Stadium, reinforced this sentiment at ISC West—the largest security conference in the world—when speaking to the unauthorized drone incursions above Levi Stadium: “Truthfully, the bulk of those numbers are hobby fliers that are either clueless or careless,” said Butler.
Some operators simply don’t know the rules of flying. But this is quickly changing. It is now mandatory to take a quiz and register drones with the Federal Aviation Administration. Others may know the rules, but disregard them, think they’re committing a victimless crime—not anticipating the destruction of a drone colliding with an airplane, or losing power over a stadium, or falling onto a nuclear plant.
You may not yet see drones every day, but if society figures it out, one day you will. Drones are already beginning to revolutionize medical transplants, carbon emissions, and, one day, circumventing automobile traffic via air taxis.
For that to become a reality, we must work to circumvent ignorance and disregard toward safe flying practices. Because when it comes to a careless or conscientious drone operator, the difference can be life or death.
Drones in dangerous proximity to aircraft is a common headline. Frankfurt, Gatwick, Dubai, Heathrow, Dublin, and Newark all headlined news in the last five months for near-misses—most notably Gatwick, which shut down for 30 hours, affected 100,000 passengers, and cost airlines over $60M.
There are over 1 million registered drones in the United States, and estimates double when it comes to unregistered ones. The drone airspace today is similar to the US when commercial aviation was burgeoning and there was no Air Traffic Control. For drones, there is no system in place to identify and authorize who’s flying drones, where they’re doing it, and why. So there’s an inherent risk to what flies above us.
What’s the root of drone threats?
Most drones aren’t threats, but the ones that do pose risk can appear harmless. Though terrorists and criminal actors have and will continue to use drones for malicious reasons, the most pressing risk today comes from ignorant or flippant drone operators. Russ Butler, Vice President of Security for the San Francisco 49ers and Levi Stadium, reinforced this sentiment at ISC West—the largest security conference in the world—when speaking to the unauthorized drone incursions above Levi Stadium: “Truthfully, the bulk of those numbers are hobby fliers that are either clueless or careless,” said Butler.
Some operators simply don’t know the rules of flying. But this is quickly changing. It is now mandatory to take a quiz and register drones with the Federal Aviation Administration. Others may know the rules, but disregard them, think they’re committing a victimless crime—not anticipating the destruction of a drone colliding with an airplane, or losing power over a stadium, or falling onto a nuclear plant.
