Steeleagle said:
If an aircraft strikes a drone on approach - whether it results in a crash or not - I would hate to see the repercussions in the form of Draconian legislation to further limit our hobby. Don't fly near airports at high altitudes- period. Should be common sense - unfortunately some people seem to lack that. Just like pointing lasers at aircraft - it's stupid and very dangerous.
Out of the million or so drones sold by DJI, 3DR, and a dozen smaller manufacturers, there will be a small percentage of users who will just be stupid. No amount of laws or regulation will change that.
But, reading the FAA report of drone sightings I get the impression that someone at the FAA hasn't a clue. There is absolutely no factual evidence to support the fear and ignorance around small personal drones, even from the FAA.
How many of these sightings are actually verified? Remarkably few.
The most frequented word in the report was "UNKN" for "Unknown" followed by "No Evasive Action". Many of the reports are in Class E airspace where the separation requirements for VFR flight are pretty general - "see and avoid". Most amazing is that the pilots can even see a drone that far away?? Standing on the ground, looking up at a popular drone model, it becomes a barely perceptible speck at 200 ft yet quite a few of the reports say the sighted A/C was 500 ft away from them. (One even reported "a few hundred yards" - good eagle-eyes on that reporter). Another "3,000 feet below..." - that's a threat, how??
Two of the reports said they received a TCAS (Traffic Collision Avoidance Service) alert. An Express Jet over New Jersey and a National Guard helicopter both reported a TCAS alert. Umm, yeah. TCAS only reports aircraft with transponders. The lightest transponder available weighs 440g, plus an encoding altimeter and transponder antenna. (And it costs $2500). It is seriously doubtful that the TCAS alerts are small drone sightings.
The FAA database of drone sightings even includes complaints from private citizens complaining, for example "that a neighbor was flying a UAS over his home and neighboring homes at 100 feet the previous evening." Is the threshold for being on an FAA list of drone sightings that low?
In the 1960's pilots were encouraged to report UFO sightings, and today it's drones. No difference but the name of the sightings. There's usually nothing there.