Cites Need To Let Passengers Know Why Their Airport Is Closed

Aero-News April 1 Special Edition

The Transportation Security Administration has proposed a system to let passengers at an airport know that there may be drones operating in the vicinity.

The Drone Alert Threat Level (DATL) system would use color coding similar to TSA's security threat level scheme. While plans have not been finalized, the proposed threat level include:

Green: No one living within 100 nautical miles of the airport likely owns a drone
Blue: People living within 100 nautical miles of the airport likely own drones
Purple: People living within 10 nautical miles of the airport likely own drones
Yellow: A drone has possibly been flown within 10 nautical miles of an airport within the last 30 days
Orange: Something that may or may not be a drone is suspected to be in the air within 5 nautical miles of the airport
Red: Something that may or may not be a drone has been confirmed in the air within 3 nautical miles of the airport

Airports can be closed under the "Red" threat level at the discretion of airport officials, TSA or the FAA.

"This may seem a little extreme, but we take safety very seriously," said a TSA official not authorized to speak to the media. "Obviously, unless the airport is in a very rural area, the threat level is likely to be Blue most of the time, and many airports near a town with a population of more than about 500 is probably going to be at threat level Purple most of the time. But it's important for passengers to be aware of the threat that drones pose to other aircraft. Besides, we haven't come up with any new rules for a while, and we had to remind people why we exist."

Every airport regardless of size would be required to assess the threat level post it publicly every day.

An Aviation Advisory Committee consisting of about 100 stakeholders will be formed to endlessly discuss the proposal.

FMI: www.tsa.gov