Drone Sightings Update

The FAA in late February released an updated list of reports detailing sightings of unmanned aircraft systems, or drones. The sightings were reported by pilots, air traffic controllers, law enforcement personnel and citizens concerned the drones posed the threat of potential collisions or other encounters with the drones. The latest data covers February through September 2016, and includes a sharp increase-1274 new reports compared with 874 for the same period in 2015.

Friday, March 10, 2017 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

The FAA reported a sharp increase in drone sighting reports for 2016, though no actual collisions between civil aircraft and drones have been verified, with the agency warning operators about illegal flights.
The FAA released a Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) highlighting a concern about fatigue cracking and failure of the main landing gear drag link bolt on Piper Apache and Aztec aircraft.
A Safety Alert for Operators (SAFO) from the FAA urges pilots to exercise caution and maintain awareness near Class B airspace boundaries to prevent incursions or excursions.
NORAD reinforced the importance of adhering to Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFRs) following an F-15 intercept near a presidential TFR, reminding pilots to monitor 121.5 MHz and be familiar with intercept procedures.

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The FAA in late February released an updated list of reports detailing sightings of unmanned aircraft systems, or drones. The sightings were reported by pilots, air traffic controllers, law enforcement personnel and citizens concerned the drones posed the threat of potential collisions or other encounters with the drones. The latest data covers February through September 2016, and includes a sharp increase—1274 new reports compared with 874 for the same period in 2015.

The data released by the agency include several reports of pilots claiming drone strikes on their aircraft. To date, however, the FAA has not verified any collision between a civil aircraft and a civil drone. The agency stated, “Every investigation has found the reported collisions were either birds, impact with other items such as wires and posts, or structural failure not related to colliding with an unmanned aircraft.”