PHOTO: U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer has pledged to propose an amendment that would help to create ‘No Fly Zones,’ such as airports, for drones. Photo Courtesy of flickr/John Jackson
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Monday pledged to propose an amendment as part of the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Bill this fall that would require manufacturers to implement geo-fencing technology or other similar solutions on all unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, in order to prevent them from flying in to “No Fly Zones,” like airports.
Schumer cited at least seven recent reported drone sightings by pilots at both John F. Kennedy International and Newark airports which showed drones at an altitude of 2,000-3,000 feet. On July 31 alone there were two incidents in which a drone came within a few hundred feet of an approaching plane. The first incident involved a JetBlue flight carrying 150 passengers; the crew witnessed a drone pass directly beneath the plane as it approached the runway. The second incident occurred later that day, when a Delta flight, which was carrying 149 passengers, also witnessed a drone pass beneath it. The most recent incident occurred on Aug. 2, when a Shuttle America flight carrying 50 passengers reported seeing a quadcopter drone fly within 25 feet of its nose immediately before landing on the runway.
The FAA reported national pilot sightings of such aircraft have increased over the past year, to more than 650 by Aug. 9, 2015, from a total of 238 in 2014.
Geo-fencing or other similar technology, Schumer said, limits where drones can fly through the installation of built-in software, firmware and GPS tracking in the device, which helps take human error out of the equation.
In February, the FAA released its draft rule on drones. But Schumer said that it does not go far enough because it does not require the use of geo-fencing technology to limit where a drone can fly. He indicated that he would propose his amendment as part of the soon-to-pass FAA Reauthorization that must move through Congress this fall.
Schumer explained that he had hoped a geo-fencing requirement would be included in the bill, but with recent reports that congress will simply extend current FAA policy through at least 2016, an amendment to that extension could be the only way to implement such a requirement this year. If language like Schumer is proposing is not included in the upcoming bill, legislative action on geo-technology could be stalled until at least 2016.
The Empire State’s senior senator said that’s too late.
“Near-misses between drones and passenger airliners are spiking and we must act now, before a real tragedy occurs. That’s why I will be proposing an amendment to the expected FAA bill that will move through congress this year to require manufacturers to implement geo-fencing or other similar ‘no fly zone’ technology on all drones,” Schumer said. “This technology works and will effectively ‘fence off’ drones from sensitive areas like airports. When it comes to drones in the vicinity of commercial flights carrying hundreds of passengers at a time, the FAA has been playing whack-a-mole across the skies, and that’s certainly not good enough.”
Asked for the agency’s reaction to Schumer’s planned amendment, FAA spokeswoman Arlene Salac told The Forum, “The FAA does not comment on proposed legislation.”
By Michael V. Cusenza michael@theforumnewsgroup.com
