Study: It's Only a Matter of Time Until a Drone Hits a U.S. Airliner


Skift Take

The U.S. government needs to better regulate unmanned drones before a drone collision brings down a commercial airliner.

A new report on drone sightings and close encounters with aircraft finds that the proliferation of drones is quickly creating an unsafe environment in the air above U.S. airports. The Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College collected data from 931 incidents involving drones and manned aircraft in U.S. airspace from Dec. 17, 2013, to Sept. 12, 2015. A close encounter is defined by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as a near collision. The result of its analysis should trouble American flyers; 327 close encou