Are Drones Dangerous?

Collision of drone with 737:

https://petapixel.com/2018/12/14/737-pa ... ports-say/

There was a lot of damage to the plane. Report is preliminary as to a drone being the exact cause.

Joe

I was at a skijoring event. A professional photographer had a camera drone and flew it over the horses. One horse took off running trampling several spectators and put them in the hospital. A lot of drone operators seem to have a limited imagination as to what could happen when flying their drone. Crash a plane, scare a horse, or disrupt the tranquility of Lake Louise (happened to me). Of course today it is all about me without concern for others right?

signgrap wrote:I think there are a number of things that differentiate drones from cars and guns. The main one is that many consider a drone a toy. 

This doesn't differentiate drones from cars and guns...

Since I have experience with this on all sides, I thought I would use the wife's account to reply.
 
Drones are not like guns (exception- military strike drones), which were designed from the start to kill, whether game or people.  However, they are like cars, when driven or flown by the inconsiderate, the ignorant or the just plain stupid, they are dangerous.  However, they are useful, fun and relatively safe in the hands of anyone willing to learn how, where and when to fly them.

I am a multiple gun owner, international competition shooter, so I do know guns.  I am a retired pilot, military and airline.  I also own and fly multiple drones and helicopters.  I have flown my drones to film events, including parachute demo teams, working with the team to know their landing zone and the prevailing winds. I don't fly over people.  I live exactly 3.16 miles from an international airport runway threshold, yet I fly in my backyard all the time.  I received permission from the tower, am off the glide path and stay below the height of all aircraft in the pattern.  Absolutely, no problem.

My big gas scale helicopter is only flown at the local model aircraft field, where spectators are fenced out.  It is smelly and as loud as a lawnmower.  Kids love to run over to see the big toy and getting hit with a set of nearly 6 foot fiberglass blades spun by a 3.5 hp engine at a few thousand rpm can simply be deadly.

As far as noise, my smaller drones at a couple of hundred feet are almost silent on the ground.  We have a large deer herd here and I often video them grazing, without them even looking up.  

Like cars and btw, laser pointers, drones when properly used should not be an issue.  More and stricter laws might help, for those who obey them but, like traffic laws, there will always be the idiots out there to contend with.

More laws and regulation is rarely the answer. It comes down to the user just like a gun or car. Prosecute the offenders but don't curtail the rights of law abiding users. If you follow the law you will not have an issue (line of sight, no more than 400 feet high, away from airports). More laws won't stop the issue with a few bad apples.

More drone problems:

https://petapixel.com/2018/12/20/gatwic ... called-in/

Joe

SantaFeJoe wrote:More drone problems:

https://petapixel.com/2018/12/20/gatwic ... called-in/

Joe

Listened to that on the Radio here this afternoon Joe.  was going to post ....  Drones

An even weirder twist on things, maybe no drones?
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/h ... 97306.html

A new method for capturing drones, if there ever were any, in UK:

https://fstoppers.com/news/uk-police-tr ... ick-321286

Joe

SantaFeJoe wrote:A new method for capturing drones, if there ever were any, in UK:

https://fstoppers.com/news/uk-police-tr ... ick-321286

Joe

looks more like an advert for Skywall 100 rather than a solution.  Not knocking the messenger.. 

Of course they will need significant manning at all locations of the airport at every hour of the day for that even to work.  (unless of course, a rogue drone operator signals in advance their intention so the authorities can move, in the interests of giving them a fair chance).  Again, that notion belongs in the realms of the ridiculous.  

Naturally, I am sure that their safety protocols are in place.   Not effective in my view.   Nor is....

Picking on completely harmless individuals based on the say so of "whom"... An allegation... a neighbour being spiteful.... scary..

Bordering now on non nature and more on political issues so will not add more.  No offence meant.

Hi,

Background - I've been running a drone based imaging business in Minnesota for the last four years. I'm also a licensed pilot.

Are drones dangerous? Sure - in the wrong hands very much so. It doesn't take much imagination to figure out how they can be used for nefarious purposes. You could fly one around a busy airport and cause a major economic disruption - or do this in a coordinated fashion at a bunch of major airports and really wreak havoc. You could strap a bomb to one and fly it to most any target - or swarm 20 of them at a target - one will be more likely to strike. They are great for smuggling things into prisons or across borders. I could go on and list a dozen other examples, but you get the idea. They are cheap, easy to fly, hard to track and even harder to bring down.

Are they useful? Incredibly. For example with a drone and software I can fly a soybean field, measure nitrogen and phosphorus levels and then program these into a sprayer so the farmer only applies chemicals where they are needed. Saves a lot of money, better for the environment, etc.

With an IR camera I inspect solar fields. Using a drone I can, with one person, inspect a 5mW field in about 2 hours, identify all the anomalies and generate a report. Saves thousands of dollars each time for the solar company. Or with the same IR camera I can quickly search a field for a lost child.

Flying a grid with another piece of software I can generate a 2cm accurate map of 100 acres in a couple hours. This has proven incredibly useful for the construction industry. Or with other software I can calculate the volume of a pile, or the volume removed from a quarry - again very useful.

Visual cameras - the applications in advertising, movie making, fine art, etc. are just endless. It is like having a 400' tall tripod - opens up quite a few creative avenues.

Fun story that I think is useful - just last week I went to do progress photos at a construction site. The site was about 1/2 mile off the end of a runway of a nearby airport - it was in Class D airspace from the surface to 3000' - a busy space not to be trifled with. Knowing what I know about aviation I got all the proper permits and paperwork (lots of forms and pages), set up communications with the tower and necessary safety procedures. Doing this allows my drone to be a safe part of the airspace.

When I arrived on the site a construction worker was flying his drone to get some photos of an area that needed to be cleared. He didn't have an FAA Part 107 license (didn't know he needed one), he didn't have an MNDOT aerial photography license (ditto) and had no idea there was a nearby airport "but I'm just flying low so it won't matter".

This worker had such a huge potential to cause harm, seemingly without him having any idea. This to me is the key point about drones and the reason that I think there should be much stricter licensing and testing. Bad people will find ways to use cars, planes, guns, drones and whatever else for harm. We can attempt to regulate access here.

But the national airspace is complicated enough that I fear well intentioned folks flying drones will end up doing harm just out of ignorance - and this is something that we really can fix with better education / licensing requirements. If it were up to me the license would be much harder to get - more akin to a private pilot's license.

My two cents. I'm open to comments / criticisms.

Steve

And for fun a photo - this was just off Runway 32L at MSP doing some video work for a construction company. Took about 6 weeks to get all the paperwork to do this legally, but in the end we got great data in a manner that was much safer than the alternative which would have been using a full sized helicopter. The tower folks said they really looked forward to working with more drone professionals who knew how to fly safely and properly integrate with our current system.

Steve Fines wrote:Hi,

Background - I've been running a drone based imaging business in Minnesota for the last four years. I'm also a licensed pilot.

Are drones dangerous? Sure - in the wrong hands very much so. It doesn't take much imagination to figure out how they can be used for nefarious purposes. You could fly one around a busy airport and cause a major economic disruption - or do this in a coordinated fashion at a bunch of major airports and really wreak havoc. You could strap a bomb to one and fly it to most any target - or swarm 20 of them at a target - one will be more likely to strike. They are great for smuggling things into prisons or across borders. I could go on and list a dozen other examples, but you get the idea. They are cheap, easy to fly, hard to track and even harder to bring down.

Steve, what a wonderful post. Thanks for sharing.

I've highlighted the part that worries me a lot. In this day and age, drones WILL be used for nefarious purposes, it is only a matter of time. Most governments are ill-prepared to handle any such eventuality.

But I agree completely that like most technological innovations, they also provide an incredible opportunity to do good. A double-edged sword if there ever was one.

Pradeep

Steve
You are taking a very responsible position, and that’s admirable.

Joe

Steve Fines wrote:edit . . . .
But the national airspace is complicated enough that I fear well intentioned folks flying drones will end up doing harm just out of ignorance - and this is something that we really can fix with better education / licensing requirements. If it were up to me the license would be much harder to get - more akin to a private pilot's license.

My two cents. I'm open to comments / criticisms.

Steve
 . . . . 

I agree