Drones and entrusting the public with having common sense

The controversy of drones has become increasingly present in this day and age. Do the pros outweigh the cons? There are arguments for both sides as people try to get used to the idea such as Amazon’s future delivery system which is “designed to safely get packages to customers in 30 minutes or less using small unmanned aerial vehicles, also called drones” becoming a possible norm.

Today, there is a police investigation in the UK after a British Airways plane was hit yesterday by what is believed to have been a drone. Luckily, the plane was able to land safely and there was no permanent damage done to it. There were 132 passengers and 5 crew members on board this flight when it was hit while descending towards the Heathrow Airport.

BBC states that “Since April last year there have been 25 near misses between aircraft and drones, figures from the UK Airprox Board suggest. A dozen of these were denoted “Class A” which indicates there was a serious risk of collision”. As a result, the UK has imposed “the dronecode” which dictates that drones should be visible at all times, be flown below 400 feet, and not be flown over congested areas.

However, in the end, preventing any drone related accidents will be up to the common sense of those who are controlling them. The future and potential of drones will be interesting to observe as they grow in accessibility to businesses and the general public.