Ride the Lightning

Everything is Coming Up Drones: Some of the Stories are Scary!

December 1, 2014

Drones have been a dominant theme in recent news stories. We are fascinated by them, repelled by them, and legally (it appears) baffled by them.

Flying a drone for recreational purposes is pretty much legal as long as you follow a few guidelines, such as staying below 400 feet. Most (not all) commercial use of drones is currently prohibited. Needless to say, not everyone follows the rules.

On November 26th, The New York Times had a headline which said "Now, Anyone Can Buy a Drone. Heaven Help Us." (hat tip to Dave Ries for sending it my way). Of course, that has been true for some time. We are now accustomed to the use of drones to capture spectacular Hollywood film shots and to the use of drones by geologists looking for oil-bearing rocks. We are even used to those who used to fly model planes as a hobby flying drones instead. My husband John (couldn't you have predicted this?) owns a drone. After insisting he could safely fly it indoors and knocking family photos off family room shelves, it has been banished from our home.

But now we're seeing criminals using drones trying to smuggle contraband into prisons and animal rights groups stalking hunters as they stalk wildlife. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) offers a $325 PETA-branded drone. In France, there have been more than a dozen drone flights over nuclear power plants, unnerving authorities.

There have been near misses (more than you probably know) at airports. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has said it receives about 25 reports a month about drones operating near manned aircraft. It will likely propose new rules for commercial rules this month, probably requiring that commercial operators maintain visual contact with the drones and obtain a certification. Already, it has updated a policy prohibiting drones from flying near major sporting events after a number of pranks, some of which resulted in violence.

About a year ago, a comedian (as a Halloween prank) used a drone to frighten people in a park with a grim reaper which made scary sounds, rigging the mannequin to the drone with fishing lines. The video has more than seven million views on YouTube. I was glad to watch it without fear from the safety of my kitchen. Not sure I would have liked to be in that park!

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