A small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) registration website administered by FAA will go live Dec. 21 and all small UAV owners in the US will be required to register their devices. US transportation secretary Anthony Foxx unveiled the requirement in a Dec. 14 conference call with media, saying the registration process would be “simple and easy.” UAVs weighing between .55 lbs. and 55 l...
When the pilot of an Alitalia jetliner reported seeing a drone while approaching New York's Kennedy Airport in 2013, the likelihood of a collision between a drone and a commercial jet seemed pretty remote. But over the past two years, aviation experts and regulators in the US have become increasingly concerned about the growing number of drones flying near airports and the risks they could...
A new report on drone sightings and close encounters with aircraft finds that the proliferation of drones is quickly creating an unsafe environment in the air above U.S. airports. The Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College collected data from 931 incidents involving drones and manned aircraft in U.S. airspace from Dec. 17, 2013, to Sept. 12, 2015. A close encounter is defined by the...
Roke Manor has been contracted under the UK’s Defence Growth Partnership (DGP) to develop a communications payload for high-altitude unmanned air vehicles. The system is being developed with the Airbus Defence & Space Zephyr pseudo satellite in mind. Airbus Defence & Space While not intended exclusively for integration with Zephyr, due to the export focus of the DGP, the hi...
Japan's revised civil aviation law that regulates the use of drones and other unmanned aerial vehicles came into effect on Thursday. The new regulations require operators to get government approval to fly such aircraft in areas designated as densely populated, at events, and near airports, public broadcaster NHK reported. Permission is also required for flying out of the operator's s...
Saudi Arabia's civil aviation authority has banned the use of drones and other remote-controlled flying devices, it was reported on Sunday. Such devices are often flown into the kingdom for sale and use as children's toys, but are later modified with precision equipment, making them a threat to national security, Arab News reported. The General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA) thi...
