Latest Report Shows Very Little Evidence Of Conflict Between Drones And Manned Aircraft

After the release last week of its latest report tracking drone sightings by pilots of manned aircraft, Forbes contributor John Goglia writes that the FAA should stop the practice of collecting reports of the sightings altogether.

That's because there is no evidence in the report that drones are causing any real threat to manned aviation. Goglia reviewed information on a sample of 59 of the 1,274 reported sightings, and found that of the 52 made by pilots, in only two cases did the pilot take any evasive action, and the closest reported approach was a tenth of a mile between the aircraft.

Goglia says that it is impossible to know in the majority of the cases if the pilot actually saw a drone or something else.

Goglia posits that "reporting drone sightings that cannot be verified and appear to have no safety impact don't make much sense. At a minimum, theses reports should be screened to eliminate those sightings that are too speculative to reach conclusions and focus on the handful that appear to have potential safety impacts."

(Image from file)

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