Readback: June 2015

I read your editorial The Drones Are Here with interest. You asked the question When was the last time you flew below 400 feet away from an airport? My answer is: yesterday.As a seaplane pilot, I do this all the time over bodies of water. So do thousands of other seaplane and helicopter pilots. There is no way on earth that we would ever be able to see and avoid these tiny toy aircraft-at least not in time for the avoid part-and for sure, their untrained operators would not be likely to anticipate and avoid us. It is not a matter of if, but when someone will be killed by these dangerous drone operations. I guess our lives are less important than the interests of hundreds of thousands of drone hobbyists.

Key Takeaways:

• Drones present an increasing and significant "see and avoid" risk to low-flying aircraft, such as seaplanes, bush planes, and particularly emergency helicopters operating in urban or off-airport environments.
• Navigation systems like the Garmin GNS 430W remove intermediate fixes from flight plans when "vectors to final" is selected, a decluttering "feature" that can cause issues, with a software update potentially offering a pilot-selectable option in the future.
• Pilots must understand RNAV procedures by distinguishing between leg MEAs and actual crossing restrictions, and always comply with ATC's absolute altitude assignments unless specifically cleared to "descend via" an arrival.

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