A little more has been uncovered about the mysterious drone sightings in a highly restricted US military test flight area above the Arizona desert, but the additional details don’t offer any clear idea of who might be illegally piloting the UAVs.
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At this point it’s pretty clear the US has an invasive drone problem – and a large one at that – though it’s still anyone’s guess who’s piloting the craft, or what authorities are going to do about controlling them.
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Something strange – and incredibly dangerous – has been happening in the Arizona skies, where pilots of advanced F-16 and F-35 fighter jets reported 22 sightings and at least one collision with drones in or around restricted US Air Force zones. But beyond the basic details of those encounters, the mystery surrounding them remains total.
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Though initially considered destined for the ash heap of history when its principal tech partner left the project, the essential drone pilot’s situational awareness and airspace restriction reference tool, B4UFLY, is getting new life from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) through an updated version of the app set for release next month.
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Verifying that intended flights will unfold in authorized airspaces should top the checklist of both leisure and professional drone pilots before they take to the skies – a normally routine precaution that an alarmingly high number of operators near the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth in Texas are clearly ignoring.
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As an additional reminder that you can’t make everyone happy – especially in this divided, frequently infuriated world – a UK medical drone delivery project has come under considerable fire for its efforts to seek prolonged flight restrictions across an expanse of airspace that locals say would effectively shut down local air traffic.
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In a news release, the FAA announced that at the request of U.S. national security and law enforcement agencies, new locations have been added to the list of locations where you can no longer fly your drone.
