US: FAA warns of drone collision risks with airplanes

The millions of small civilian drones plying the nation’s skies can cause significant damage to airliners and business jets in a midair collision, new research commissioned by the US FAA concluded. While most drones weigh only a few pounds, they include motors and other metal equipment that could cause significant damage to aircraft engines, windshields or wings upon impact, according to the study by an FAA research centre. Even though airliners and other aircraft are designed to take impacts from birds, “it doesn’t mean they are going to be able to withstand a 4-pound or an 8-pound UAS impact,” said Gerardo Olivares, a researcher at Wichita State University who helped lead the study. He referred to drones as UAS, or unmanned aerial systems. The results of the government-sanctioned study, the most comprehensive of its kind to date, add urgency to FAA’s efforts to improve safety as the industry pushes to expand drone operations in everything from delivering consumer goods to performing aerial inspections. It also comes on the heels of the first two midair collisions between small drones and traditional aircraft in North America. Last month the FAA said reports of drone-safety incidents, including flying improperly or getting too close to other aircraft, now average about 250 a month, up more than 50% from a year earlier. The reports include near-collisions described by pilots on airliners, law-enforcement helicopters or aerial tankers fighting wildfires. Researchers at four universities conducted impact tests and computer modeling over the past 14 months, attempting to determine the potential hazards to common single-aisle airliners and business jets. The work was peer reviewed by NASA and aircraft manufacturers, Olivares said.<br/>