Drones becoming serious concern for pilots
SAN DIEGO – As Jason Thrasher lowered his helicopter to a park with seven firefighters aboard, he saw what he thought was another firefighting chopper battling a blaze that was threatening homes.
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection pilot suddenly identified the object as a four-rotor drone only 10 feet from his windshield, forcing him to make a hard left to avoid a collision about 500 feet above ground, according to a report he filed the next day.
“If that drone came through my windshield, I have no idea what could have happened,” Thrasher said in a phone interview. “If that drone hits my tail rotor, for sure it’s going to be catastrophic.”
The near-miss last September in Nevada City, about 60 miles northeast of Sacramento, explains why drones have quickly become a serious nuisance and concern for firefighting pilots and other first responders, fueling calls for more oversight and self-policing in the skies.
The U.S. Forest Service has tallied 13 wildfires in which suspected drones interfered with firefighting aircraft this year – 11 since late June – up from four fires last year and only scattered incidents before. Last month, the sighting of five drones in a wildfire that closed Interstate 15 in Southern California and destroyed numerous vehicles grounded crews for 20 minutes as flames spread.
Firefighting agencies have introduced public service announcements to warn drone hobbyists, while lawmakers are seeking stiffer penalties for interfering.
“When you can’t support firefighters on the ground, fires get bigger,” said Ken Pimlott, director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. “It’s significant, and it’s a huge issue.”
The problem isn’t limited to firefighting aircraft.
On Aug. 2, for the second time in three days, a commercial pilot reported a drone while approaching John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. On Sunday, four commercial flights between 2,000 and 3,000 feet in the air spotted a drone while prepping for landing at Newark Liberty International Airport. The FAA in recent weeks also has received reports about near-collisions over airports in Minneapolis and Austin, Texas.
The agency now gets several reports a day of drones flying too close to planes and helicopters, FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said.
The increase in close encounters between passenger aircraft and drones is prompting demands from U.S. lawmakers for tighter regulation and enforcement to avoid a fatal collision.
“Without common sense rules, I believe it’s only a matter of time before there’s a tragic accident,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, said last week in an emailed statement.
Feinstein and other lawmakers are demanding that regulators revise existing law to plug a loophole sparing recreational drones from the regulations. They are also are seeking the use of software that would prevent drones from flying in prohibited areas.
A simple explanation for the growing number of encounters is that consumer drones are more common as prices fall. The Consumer Electronics Association predicts U.S. sales will reach 700,000 this year, up from 430,000 last year and 128,000 in 2013. The industry group estimates this year’s average sale price at $149, down from $160 last year and $349 in 2013.
Greg McNeal, a Pepperdine University law professor, likens worries about safety and ethical boundaries to concerns years ago about use of camera-enabled cellphones in locker rooms and other public places.
Governments are wrestling with how to regulate a new consumer technology that can wreak havoc when misused.
Most operators who flew near wildfires were probably unaware of the dangers, McNeal said. Others are “straight reckless,” he said, perhaps motivated to get images that no one else has in order to sell them.
Under FAA guidelines, drone hobbyists should fly no higher than 400 feet, stay clear of stadiums and people, and avoid flying within 5 miles of airports. During wildfires and other emergencies, the FAA imposes temporary restrictions.