You know the end is coming when crap like this starts showing up online. We’ve had drones landing on the White House lawn, we’ve heard first hand reports of commercial pilots encountering drones on approach and now, we see the above video in which a reckless drone operator is intentially approaching a Frontier Airlines passenger jet.
The incident occurred near McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. According to PetaPixel, “the video was originally posted to a Facebook group called ‘1% FPV’ by a ‘James Jayo Older’ with the caption: ‘Found the SD card.. 1%ers only.'”
Other than the obvious threat to the safety of the people on board the jet, this is terrible PR for an industry that is still finding its way through technological and regulatory hurdles. We’ve come so far in both areas over the past couple years. However, it just takes one major incident to crush the industry. With idiots like this flying drones, it seems almost inevitable.
Not cool!
Unfortunately, banning drones only makes flying them illegal. The ban does NOT stop the “problem”. Governments that haven’t learned that lesson are forever coming up with absurd ideas that don’t solve, avoid or prevent the problem. Then the governments themselves become part of the problem.
The real answer is to get rid of the idiots – not to “chuck the baby out with the bath water”. That takes more effort on the part of government. But with the current government in the US, regulation – let alone (God forbid!) actually ENFORCING regulation – seems to be anathema. So there’s another problem that needs fixing.
I was just watching an “Adventures of Superman” episode, “Beware the Wrecker!” in which a criminal uses miniature airplanes with small explosive charges to damage or destroy ships, trains, etc. There’s a need for tightly enforced laws, with major penalties, to keep drone users from flying their devices in or near airways. “I was just having fun” is no excuse when a plane crashes.
McCarran.
Fixed. Thanks. The older I get the worse my spelling and proofreading gets…
I am a drone operator who tries to follow all the rules and be a good neighbor. I hope they track this guy down and throw the book at him!