5 Ways the Film Industry Benefits from Filming with Drones

On one day alone, August 4, 2015, at one airport, New Jersey’s Newark, four different commercial airliners on approach for landing reported seeing drones near or in their flight path.

According to the FAA, pilot reports of unmanned aircraft have increased dramatically over the past year, from a total of 238 sightings in all of 2014, to more than 650 by August 9 of this year.

Among those dodging hobbyist drones are pilots of commercial airliners, fire fighters and air ambulance pilots. The safety implications of these unmanned drones – being flown by anyone with a few hundred bucks to purchase one –is very concerning for all of those involved in aviation safety. Do we need to include drone evasion in commercial pilot training? Will helicopter flight training have to include drone identification?

For now, the government is focused on trying to control the behavior of drone pilots – albeit unsuccessfully to date. While the FAA guidelines, or rules, for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) are clear, they are in fact not law (the FAA can’t make laws).