Senator Charles Schumer is introducing legislation forcing the Federal Aviation Administration to require drone manufacturers to implement technology that would prevent the aircraft from entering "no-fly zones" like airports.
The New York lawmaker's proposal follows a rash of reports about the unmanned aircraft appearing near airports. Schumer tells The Associated Press it's only a matter of time before a deadly collision results from one of these encounters.
He says so-called "geo-fencing" technology exists that would limit where drones can fly.
“Near-misses between drones and passenger airliners are spiking and we must act now, before a real tragedy occurs. That’s why I will be proposing an amendment to the expected FAA bill that will move through congress this year to require manufacturers to implement geo-fencing or other similar ‘no fly zone’ technology on all drones. This technology works and will effectively ‘fence off’ drones from sensitive areas like airports. When it comes to drones in the vicinity of commercial flights carrying hundreds of passengers at a time, the FAA has been playing whack-a-mole across the skies, and that’s certainly not good enough,” said Schumer, who noted there have been at least seven reported drone sightings at Kennedy and Newark airports in the past week.
The FAA recently reported pilot sightings nationwide jumped from 238 in 2014 to more than 650 by Aug. 9.
The FAA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Portions of this article (c) 2015 The Associated Press.
