We surveyed 1,500 drone pilots about current U.S. regulations. Here's what they said.

[Michael Karp]

In March/April of this year, we surveyed 1,500 drone pilots about current U.S. regulations.

Our goal was to get an inside look at people's opinions and habits on the state of drone laws in the U.S. and where they're going.

We ended up with a bunch of interesting (and disturbing) data about non-compliance with current regulations. Here's the writeup:

1,500+ Drone Pilots Speak Their Mind About U.S. Drone Regulations

P.S. Thank you for participating if you took part. You rock!

 

[kevinm]

Wow! Interesting results. 38% of commercial (or soon-to-be commercial) pilots not knowing what a COA is seems to be a sign there's not enough education around the regulatory landscape.

Also thought it strange that 78% said that insurance should be mandatory but 50% said they don't plan on buying it? I wonder why the discrepancy.

 

[Othan1]

Wow! Interesting results. 38% of commercial (or soon-to-be commercial) pilots not knowing what a COA is seems to be a sign there's not enough education around the regulatory landscape.

Also thought it strange that 78% said that insurance should be mandatory but 50% said they don't plan on buying it? I wonder why the discrepancy.

Because some of the 78% meant "insurance for OTHER people". They're perfect pilots, why would they need it? heh.

 

[kevinm]

Haha. Good point!

 

[Michael Karp]

Wow! Interesting results. 38% of commercial (or soon-to-be commercial) pilots not knowing what a COA is seems to be a sign there's not enough education around the regulatory landscape.

That's definitely one of the insights we gained. There needs to be a lot more education on these regulations/guidelines and the new ones coming out. And really, more promotion by the FAA to get the word out.

 

[Great Pumpkin]

Isn't it possible that the high percentage of people who didn't know what a COA reflects the percentage of hobbyists that participated in the survey? I don't know what a COA is by the acronym, but I easily understand what is full name implies. I'm a registered hobbyist flying a Phantom for over two years and never heard of a COA, because I don't need one.

 

[kevinm]

@Great Pumpkin you're right that hobbyists won't (and shouldn't be expected to) know what a COA is, but the survey seems to make clear that the 38% is specifically the demographic who are commercial pilots or intend to be commercial pilots in the near future.