Briefing: October 2015

The FAA raised concerns this summer over the escalation of pilot reports of drone encounters, with 650 reports in the first half of the year, nearly three times as many as in all of 2014. Encounters occurred at altitudes up to 10,000 feet and were reported by aircraft from helicopters to airliners. Conflicts with firefighters also were on the rise. In August, the Transportation Departments Office of Inspector General said it would launch an audit to scrutinize the FAAs procedures for allowing drone operations in the national airspace.

Editorial Staff

Wednesday, September 09, 2015 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Pilot reports of drone encounters with aircraft are significantly increasing, prompting an audit of FAA drone operation procedures, while the FAA itself faces broader scrutiny over delays in pilot records, varied control tower costs, and inadequate air traffic control training.
Aviation safety reports indicate a rise in general aviation fatal accident rates in 2014, and the NTSB attributed the SpaceShipTwo crash primarily to a design flaw allowing a single human error to be catastrophic.
A replica of the unique 1930s Bugatti 100P racing airplane successfully completed its first-ever flight, despite sustaining damage during landing.

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Airplane/Drone Conflicts On The Rise

The FAA raised concerns this summer over the escalation of pilot reports of drone encounters, with 650 reports in the first half of the year, nearly three times as many as in all of 2014. Encounters occurred at altitudes up to 10,000 feet and were reported by aircraft from helicopters to airliners. Conflicts with firefighters also were on the rise. In August, the Transportation Department’s Office of Inspector General said it would launch an audit to scrutinize the FAA’s procedures for allowing drone operations in the national airspace.