A new study from researchers at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has found that aircraft are too often forced to share airspace with unauthorized drones.
In fact, the vast majority of small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) detected around Daytona Beach International Airport in Florida during a 30-day period in 2019 lacked approval from the FAA, and more than one-third of those drones were flying higher than the law allows, Embry-Riddle researchers reported.
An FAA approval system for commercial and recreational drone flights in controlled airspace called LAANC (Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability) had been predicted to reduce noncompliant UAS operations by at least 30% within six months, researchers noted.
“This voluntary approval process doesn’t seem to be working as expected,” said Embry-Riddle’s Dr. John M. Robbins, an associate professor of Aeronautical Science.
Only 7%, or 19 of 271 detected drone flights, had approval from the FAA to fly in the locations and at the times they were flying, according to the study.
Researchers added that a whopping 34.3% of the detected drones were exceeding legal altitude levels.
“Among the group flying too high, 32 were higher than 500 feet, six were detected above 1,000 feet, and three exceeded 1,500 feet, posing a real risk to manned aviation operations in the National Airspace System — particularly if most of those drones are not even authorized to be flying in controlled airspace,” said Dr. Ryan J. Wallace, an assistant professor of Aeronautical Science at Embry-Riddle.
The findings are eye-opening and timely, given the FAA’s proposal to require Remote Identification — electronic tracking devices on drones, similar to the ADS-B tracking technology that is now mandatory on manned aircraft in certain airspace, according to the researchers.
The research “highlights notable gaps in the effectiveness of, and compliance with existing FAA policies for integrating drones into the low-altitude region of the National Airspace System,” said Robbins.
A passive radio-frequency sensor called a DJI AeroScope detected, tracked, and recorded DJI-manufactured drones around Daytona Beach International Airport over a total of 30 days in 2019. (Hurricane Dorian required two different sampling timeframes, Aug. 14-30, and Sept. 8-22.) The researchers then compared drone activity with locations and flying altitudes prescribed by the FAA’s UAS Facility Maps. Finally, they checked FAA LAANC approvals versus detected flights and found only 19 flights that aligned with authorizations.
Previous Embry-Riddle research revealed that skilled pilots approaching a runway usually can’t see drones encroaching on their airspace, especially if those drones are hovering.
The new study was published in the International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace (IJAAA). It was co-authored by Wallace, Robbins, James K. Holliman, Don S. Metscher, and Taylor R. Rogers at Embry-Riddle, in collaboration with Jon M. Loffi at Oklahoma State University.
Not so fast the FAA is on it trust me !!
Surveillance takes time and manpower, let’s just see what happens over the next several months.
Drone fan, Faa
Caveat: I have nothing against drones. My last USAF assignment was serving as the deputy director of the now-defunct Joint Unmanned Aircraft Systems Center of Excellence (JUASCOE).
Most of our unclassified tasks involved helping the FAA figure out how to safely integrate Department of Defense UAS into the National Airspace System. However, our real goal was to come up with solutions that worked for all UAS…not just the DoD’s. Unfortunately, the JUASCOE was formally dissolved in 2011. As a result, many very talented folks were sent back to their respective services, and a lot of important “stuff” they developed was lost in the shuffle.
I had an encounter last summer, that highlights some of my concerns regarding the exponential proliferation of civilian UAS. It has nothing to do with the operator’s “flying skills”; it’s the potentially dangerous attitude(s) and culture that are growing along with the number of machines.
I was fishing one afternoon at Bella Bella Beach, a sand spit on Fox Island, near Tacoma, Washington. Fox Island sits just southwest of Tacoma Narrows (TIW), a towered airport tucked underneath Seattle’s Class B airspace. They were using Runway 35, and you could clearly see several planes in the pattern. The beach is @ 3 miles from the approach end of Rwy 35, well inside TIW’s Class D airspace.
Three driving-age teenagers (1 boy, 2 girls) showed up with a drone; they walked out to the eastern tip of the spit, a couple hundred feet from me, to set it up. It was a typical quadcopter; way bigger than .55 lbs., and way less than 55 lbs.
They mounted a camera on a tripod to film the takeoff, then launched it into the vertical. I don’t know exactly how high it went, but it got really tiny. Then they drove it, at high speed, directly towards KTIW. I can’t tell you exactly how far, but it exceeded my “line-of-sight” and was out of earshot.
About the time I thought maybe I’d better investigate further, it came speeding back. They packed it up quickly and started back down the beach toward me. I didn’t want to appear threatening or belligerent; so, I thought “I’ll use this as a teaching moment…”
As the girl carrying the drone walked by, I asked politely; “Can I ask you a question about your drone?”
Our discussion, verbatim:
“Sure”; as she kept walking by.
“Do you fly your drone here very often?”
“No, I’m not from around here”
“Are you familiar with the rules for flying drones near airports?”
“Uh, sure.”
“Well, I think you may have broken a big one.” (I was betting that they hadn’t talked to the tower first.)
“Oh, they don’t care as long as you fly low enough….”
“Well, that’s not quite what the rules say.”
They clearly didn’t want to stop and talk: She gave me one last, colorful comment as she looked back at me over her shoulder.
I’m not looking to challenge everyone I see out flying a drone. But I get a bit concerned when I see stuff that makes me go “Hmmmm…..?”
I’ve now had four similar ‘encounters’, always on local beaches, very near TIW.
Fortunately, three turned into congenial discussions where I’ve pointed out to folks their proximity to the airport—and its controlled airspace. I always pull out my iPhone and show them on ForeFlight exactly where we’re at, relative to the runway. One time, I had to yell because of the planes on downwind, directly over our heads…..
In each case, they were “hobbyists’, not Part 107 operators, and had no idea there were ANY rules regarding UAS operations.
The fourth encounter was with a group of grown men, with very sophisticted equipment…..operating in extremely close proximity to the airport. When I casually mentioned “sure are lots of planes in the pattern today..”, one abruptly interjected “we got that on-line approval”. I assumed he meant via LAANC….except TIW is not a participating site. They packed up and left.
I appreciate the chance of those kids hitting someone landing on Rwy 35 was pretty remote (no pun intended). My point is-you can’t assume that small UAS are not going to be operated, near airports, in violation of ‘the rules’. If looking for small objects flying in/near the traffic pattern isn’t part of your habit pattern, you might want to make it so.
PRECISELY what I predicted. The FAA is utterly remiss in not requiring ADS-B for this tech at a min. The entire premise of regulating and managing the sky is gone while these things are flying around endangering everything else in the sky that follows the rules.