Drones are literally everywhere. As I drove through my neighborhood a few days ago, I saw a teenager flying what looked to be a DJI Phantom in his front yard and just a couple dozen feet from my car as I passed by. Drones have gone from a very niche and expensive hobby interest toward a mainstream consumer and commercial success. And it’s only just begun.
The storylines continue to focus on the FAA’s regulations and the public’s restrictions as the technology is far out-pacing the legal and regulatory guidelines. While there is a loose framework for registration in place for the general public and their personal use of drones, legitimate technological restrictions are hardly competent to keep a drone from either accidentally or intentionally causing a major catastrophe.
As it stands now, we are still living in the wild west of the drone tech boom. Just about anyone can fly a drone just about anywhere – regardless of whether there are regulatory restrictions in place or not. The FAA is woefully undermanned to address all of the reported violations and local law enforcement remains untrained on the regulations and/or completely lack jurisdiction to enforce those regulations.
This is all a recipe for disaster.
There are likely upwards of a couple million or more consumer drones in the hands of the public today. Zero training is required to fly a drone. Although, the FAA mandates drone registration, only around 300,000 drones have been registered as of mid-January 2016.
In the current regulatory, enforcement and prevention climate, I fear that it is only a matter of time before someone flies a drone into a major airliner (we’ve already had close calls) or someone uses a drone for terroristic purposes to deliver some sort of explosive into a crowded area.
What happens then?
How does the government address the fear of another major catastrophe? How can it control a technology that is beyond its own capability to control?
As tragic as such events would be, it could also be incredibly crippling to the multi-billion dollar drone industry. The chilling effect that a major tragedy would have on our recreational use of drones would likely drive several smaller drone companies out of the market and set the market back several years.
Just imagine for a second and you can see the headlines play out and hear the talking heads opine on “what should be done” after a major drone tragedy. The knee-jerk reaction that I think all drone users fear the most is an outright ban on all drone use. While such a ban might be “temporarily” implemented to address gaping holes in drone regulation and enforcement, I don’t think we would ever again see the free reign that most of us enjoy today. Even with the restrictions currently in place, it could get a whole lot tougher if the wrong things happen from just one person’s actions.
Whether accidental or intentional, I don’t know that anyone is prepared to argue for more lenient use of drones in the face of a drone-related tragedy that takes the lives of so many people.
What do you think? Can a major drone catastrophe be avoided? Or is it inevitable at this point? What can the FAA, drone manufacturers and individuals do to prevent that going forward?
I assume that all drones use a common wavelength band for control. It would be easy to build drone jammers that prevent the control signals from getting to the drone. Probably resulting in a crashing drone.
Oh, it’s inevitable – drones of all types have already been hacked, and if (when?) those with ill intent gain the ability then watch out. From the book “Future Crimes: Everything is Connected and Everyone is Vulnerable”:
The Department of Homeland Security uses a fleet of these UAVs to protect the border and in 2012 found out they were not nearly as secure as it had presumed. Students at the University of Texas at Austin had discovered a way to hack the drones and tried to inform DHS, which refused to believe them, saying its UAVs were “unhackable.” After months of back-and-forth, officials were finally persuaded to participate in a demonstration by the students, at which point the UT wunderkinder seized the flying robot and began flying it sharply off course, leaving DHS officials with their jaws agape. The students carried out their attack by successfully spoofing the drone’s GPS and changing its coordinates, all using hardware and software they had built at school for under $ 1,000.
Security seems to have been an afterthought (including in GPS, which has also been hacked to “fool” unmanned aircraft) so it would appear to be just a matter of time before something tragic occurs.
I haven’t flown since November 2014. It’s a DJI Phantom 2 with an H4-3D gimbal and Hero 4 Black. I spent close to $2K. today, less than $1K.
Everyone is flying something. The ads say Realtors, Surveyors, Insurance Adjusters and a smart ass kid can do what I did in 2011.
I’m outta business in Air Photography/videography. Not worth it. I’ll either keep my drone for my own videos, or dump it for $600, keep the GoPro for my handheld gimbal, and buy something with an integrated screen and such.
I’ll wait and see the disaster from th cheap seats…
All this is perpetrating the same fear and terror campaign begun by the media. There isn’t much damage you can do with a multirotor machine (aka “drone”) that you couldn’t do with a radio controlled model helicopter or a fixed wing model aircraft …… Both of which have existed for years and both have caused accidental deaths. Accidents happen ……… That kid flying the ” drone” would probably have been dodging cars on his skateboard or climbing onto a factory roof for kicks.
Some regulation and training maybe desirable going forward, and this should be mandatory for commercially operated and heavy machines, but remember that the majority of these aircraft are of toy level with low weight, limited payload and short flight times. Many do not have cameras nor do they have the ability to fly FPV out of sight. GPS enabled machines often have airfield and altitude fencing and multiple failsafe modes. They are not the spawn of the Devil so quit the paranoia.
Amen to that. The author states “There are already been close calls” which has been quoted over and over by the media and has been totally debunked when you actually look into the data. Having an airline pilot reporting seeing a drone in the air is not a close call. I fly mine at or around 200ft and it maxes out at 400ft, unless someone is flying in the flight path, very close to the runway they are never close to an airline at that altitude.
Add to that the little detail that a drone is very unlikely to bring an airline down if it hits one and this is all a bunch of hype because people don’t like drones.
If we were so worried about safety we should ban all cars from driving! “NHTSA’s Fatal Analysis Reporting System (FARS) figures for 2014 show 32,675 people died in motor vehicle crashes in 2014” That is a national tragedy, not the kid flying a drone in his front yard!
This kind of article frustrates me intensely as it is just fanning the flames.
Thank you for being the rational ones here Mike & Scott. This article is what I deem as “fear mongering”.
To the AUTHOR of this article: you do not mention Section 333 exemptions, you do not mention that some states are requiring a permit to fly and passing of a test covering knowledge, operation and safety; you do not mention that there are laws already in existence which can and should be applied to drone flying – such as reckless endangerment and peeping tom laws. If that kid in your neighborhood had hit you vehicle, someone’s home, or (God forbid) a person or pet, that is reckless endangerment. Unfortunately what you DO mention are several bogus and unproven facts such as near misses with jet liners. Even the FAA has admitted they have no proof or substantiated claims to this back this up. Maybe you could have mentioned the idiot who WAS SEEN flying near and impeding a medical helicopter just this week in Pitt County, NC. And guess what? THAT person has been arrested and will be going to court! People who don’t know what they are talking about, who are just spouting out hearsay and unproven facts, who have no idea about the REAL laws out there, should STOP talking and writing about this subject. You are doing nothing but encouraging more uneducated people to make assumptions. And you know what they say about assuming don’t you?
Laws on the books have little effect if there is no enforcement. What good are existing laws when a drone incident causes the death of multiple people? More importantly to the point I’m making, what effect does that have on the industry?
As an attorney, I am very aware of the laws in place and the current registration process. I’ve written about these topics on many occasions. Unfortunately, most consumers are ignorant of these laws and the FAA is undermanned to enforce them.
I appreciate everyone’s confidence in all drone operators and the absolute certainty that a drone could never create the kind of incident that causes numerous casualties. I’m a little less certain than you though – especially when you consider the ability for a person with ill-intent to attack others using a drone as a delivery vehicle.
With that said, I am very much a fan of drones. If you’ve read Photography Bay for any period of time, you already know that. I love the technology and where it’s going. My question here is about what happens when you mix the current technological boom with such a critical incident.
They have done testing, so far none of the current crop of drones are able to destroy a jet engine, it’s ingested and spit out the end without any issues. large flocks of birds are still a bigger threat to airlines than a single drone. Baseballs, football, and lightning strikes kill more people than drones. Should we stop playing baseball, football, or always stay inside to avoid lightning? Geofencing around airports seem to be the best idea so far.
EXACTLY!!
I’ve seen drones for under 2k with half mile or more abilities, that’s way further than the toys some folks have. They could easily carry enough explosive payload to do way more harm to a jet engine than “getting sucked up and spit out.” This is only one scenario. Did anyone calling this article fear mongering ever consider for a second the ability of a drone to release biological killers over large crowds without detection? Still this is only one more scenario. Calling this article fear mongering is obviously the comment of people short on brains and imagination.
Great article Eric Reagan!
Daniel,
Explosives and biological weapons are currently illegal so why do we need more unnecessary laws. Your statements are fear mongering alone. With any new technology there is always the fear of what you can do with it. As for privacy I’d say the bigger threat is smart phones than a drone.
With the number of remote piloted aircraft sold throughout the world and excluding military use how many people have been killed in the last year? None that I’m aware of. Now compare that to bee stings with an average of 58 deaths a year in the U.S.
The benefits alone out way the possibility of negative impacts. Right now I’m seeing a huge interest by young students. Kids are learning to build, program and fly UAVs in huge numbers. Why do we want to stymie this learning opportunity. Because of less restrictions in other countries the U.S. is behind the development curve to other countries like Australia, France, Germany, China and Sweden.
There does need to be some sensible regulation in regard to safety. Just remember someone going to do something nefarious action isn’t going to worry about what might be illegal. So if they did come out and say drones are illegal that isn’t going to stop a terrorist from using one. It will just prevent a young student from learning about the positive uses of drones.
Thanks Daniel.
It’s going to happen, and it’s going to happen SOON. See this: http://www.photographybay.com/2018/02/06/video-illegal-drone-flying-above-passenger-jet-in-vegas/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PhotographyBay+%28Photography+Bay%29