It’s been 90 years since Charles Lindbergh’s first transatlantic flight from New York to Paris. But all this time later, airplanes are still venerable. So now, there are new threats. Can drones bring down planes?
The FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) thinks so. In fact, they think drone strikes could be even worse the bird strikes. I saw a video on CBS news that was fairly chilling. It was of a drone crashing into a city skyscraper. It was minor, no injuries or damages except for a now defunct drone. But you gotta ask what if? What if that drone was high enough to get to an airplane?
Because researchers are asking the same questions. Furthermore, they showed a cartoon of a drone flying into an engine fan blade. If that were to happen in real life (I pray it never does), then that engine could fail. But that’s not the only concern. Researchers also did a cartoon of a small drone hitting the tail. It was enough to rip through the skin. So far in 2017, pilots saw over 2,000 drones from the cockpit. Already, that’s a 20% increase from 2016. Drones are becoming more popular in every aspect of life, from government to business to recreation. The fear is these sightings are bound to increase in the years to come.
I heard one government official say this is a tragedy just waiting to happen. I agree. What do we in IT service do about it? First of all, we need to raise awareness of the dangers this can cause. Just like we in computer repair warn of viruses and malware, let’s do the same for this. Can drones bring down planes? I don’t know. But more to the point, let’s never, ever find out the hard way! Follow the FAA rules when it comes to drones. They’re not there for killjoy, but to keep us all alive and safe. And use plain common sense as well. What will you do about it?