Washington Post editorial:
Drones should come with transponders that make them visible to conventional radar. Standards might also be needed to ensure that the communications devices linking drones to users are robust. True, it would probably be possible for criminals to skirt these safety mechanisms. But at the very least, accidental bad behavior would drop. Congress should require, or allow the FAA to require, such safety equipment.
Meanwhile the FAA should, carefully, take the fetters off commercial drones. Businesses could use drones for all sorts of purposes — Amazon.com, whose chief executive, Jeffrey P. Bezos, owns The Post, is experimenting with package delivery by drone — but interested companies must still get a special waiver from the FAA to fly them. Instead, the FAA should promulgate universal rules that protect airspace safety but allow businesses more leeway to make good on the tantalizing possibilities drones offer. Industry has been grounded long enough.
What we should do to keep the skies safe in the age of drones
...and from a Washington Post article:
Spurred by numerous reports of drones flying near jets and airports, the federal government will require that the aircraft be registered to make it easier to identify owners and educate amateur aviators.
...
The Muncie, Indiana-based Academy of Model Aeronautics said registration is an “unnecessary burden for our more than 185,000 members who have been operating safely for decades.”
The group maintains that Congress in 2012 prohibited the FAA from new rules for recreational model aircraft users who are part of a community-based organization.
But Whitaker said while the law prohibits new rules, the FAA has the authority to register the aircraft.
...
(from the print edition)
The thrill of flying their own mini-aircraft, often with a video camera attached to scan what is below, appeals to more than one-third of Americans, according to the Saint Leo University Polling Institute.
...
...almost 82 percent of people said that drones shouldn't be allowed to photograph one's back yard, house, or family. And 47 percent said that private citizens should not be allowed to own drones.
"It is surprising that so many Americans want to ban private citizens from owning drones, even though more than one third of survey respondants want to own a drone some day," said Leo Ondrovic, a member of the Saint Leo University faculty who is a licensed pilot.
...
FAA to require most drones to be registered and marked
Drones should come with transponders that make them visible to conventional radar. Standards might also be needed to ensure that the communications devices linking drones to users are robust. True, it would probably be possible for criminals to skirt these safety mechanisms. But at the very least, accidental bad behavior would drop. Congress should require, or allow the FAA to require, such safety equipment.
Meanwhile the FAA should, carefully, take the fetters off commercial drones. Businesses could use drones for all sorts of purposes — Amazon.com, whose chief executive, Jeffrey P. Bezos, owns The Post, is experimenting with package delivery by drone — but interested companies must still get a special waiver from the FAA to fly them. Instead, the FAA should promulgate universal rules that protect airspace safety but allow businesses more leeway to make good on the tantalizing possibilities drones offer. Industry has been grounded long enough.
What we should do to keep the skies safe in the age of drones
...and from a Washington Post article:
Spurred by numerous reports of drones flying near jets and airports, the federal government will require that the aircraft be registered to make it easier to identify owners and educate amateur aviators.
...
The Muncie, Indiana-based Academy of Model Aeronautics said registration is an “unnecessary burden for our more than 185,000 members who have been operating safely for decades.”
The group maintains that Congress in 2012 prohibited the FAA from new rules for recreational model aircraft users who are part of a community-based organization.
But Whitaker said while the law prohibits new rules, the FAA has the authority to register the aircraft.
...
(from the print edition)
The thrill of flying their own mini-aircraft, often with a video camera attached to scan what is below, appeals to more than one-third of Americans, according to the Saint Leo University Polling Institute.
...
...almost 82 percent of people said that drones shouldn't be allowed to photograph one's back yard, house, or family. And 47 percent said that private citizens should not be allowed to own drones.
"It is surprising that so many Americans want to ban private citizens from owning drones, even though more than one third of survey respondants want to own a drone some day," said Leo Ondrovic, a member of the Saint Leo University faculty who is a licensed pilot.
...
FAA to require most drones to be registered and marked
