Ride the Lightning

I Am a Nervous Nellie Flyer – Now I Have to Worry About Drones?

February 2, 2016

I have seriously been known to grip the thigh of a complete stranger during sudden turbulence on a plane. He happened to be an Indian medicine man (what are the odds of that?) and began reciting something magical and calming and seemed unflustered by having a strange woman grab his thigh. Since John and I almost always fly together, he emerges from bad flights with bruised hands (sometime thighs too).

So it was with dread that I read a story in Naked Security about the escalating drone near misses at UK and US airports. There is even a disconcerting map of recent drone "events" near L.A. International Airport.

There's actually something called the Center for the Study of the Drone (who knew?) thanks to New York's Bard College. The center noted 921 drone incidents over the past two years, 327 of them presenting some level of hazard to manned aircraft, including 90 involving commercial jets.

Turbulence, terrorists and now drones. The number of drones probably tripled over Christmas. Being flown, no doubt, by the careless, the demented and cheerful drunkards. And are they likely to abide by the new FAA rules? Yes, that was a rhetorical question. This Nellie is more nervous than ever – and pilots seem alarmed too, having seen drones only a wingspan away. You know it's bad when insurance companies start writing exclusions in fine print. Welcome to the modern world of aviation.

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