When will FAA act? When a drone brings down a plane?

Editorial board, The Republic | azcentral.com

Our View: A drone comes dangerously close to a jet in the northeast Valley, with no consequences for its owner.

This is why the FAA needs to stop dragging its feet over drones:

Someone flew a drone up 7,000 feet into the Northeast Valley route airlines use on their approach to Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. An American Airlines pilot reported coming within 100 feet of the three-prop, black-and-yellow drone.

The drone owner put scores of people at risk, breaking federal law. But it’s unlikely he or she will be found, much less held accountable.

The Federal Aviation Administration insists it has rules — the same rules that apply to any other aircraft. They essentially translate to “don’t be stupid.”

That doesn’t work, as Sunday’s incident proves. If a single-engine plane had wandered in front of that American jet, the FAA would know who it belonged to. It would have a way to ground the pilot. And the private pilot would also have the eyes to see what he needed to avoid.

None of that applies to the drone or its pilot, who was on the ground in Fountain Hills or one of the two adjoining Indian reservations. As consumer-grade drones become more and more powerful, these stories will become more common unless the FAA acts.

One solution would be to ban private ownership of drones. That should be a non-starter; responsibly operated, the devices can be useful in so many ways.

The better solution would be to precisely define what kinds of drones can go where. License any drone capable of flying at higher altitudes, just as any other aircraft is. Perhaps they should be equipped with a tracking device. Penalties for breaking the rules and endangering others should be severe.

The FAA has been dragging its feet for years. It should not wait to act until a large drone gets sucked into a jet engine.

http://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/editorial/2015/08/05/drone-airplane-phoenix-faa/31183247/