Seeing the Threat: Pilot Visual Detection of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems in Visual Meteorological Conditions (original) (raw)
2016, International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace
Botelho, 2014). On September 17, 2014, an NYPD helicopter came within 50 feet of colliding with a small drone, requiring the pilot to perform an evasive maneuver ("NYPD," 2014). Even small, general aviation aircraft have encountered near misses with unmanned platforms. In September 2014, a Cessna 172 sighted an unmanned aircraft passing within 100 feet below his flight altitude near Orlando-Sanford Airport (Whitlock, 2014). In the same month, a Piper Archer pilot reportedly passed within 50-100 feet from a UAS, claiming "the thing [UAS] flashed right off my wingtip" (Whitlock, 2014). Just days prior, a Cessna 172 piloted by a flight instructor reported an illuminated drone overflying his aircraft by 200 feet, remarking "it came out of seemingly nowhere" (Whitlock, 2014, p. 1). As unmanned systems proliferated the commercial and hobby markets, pilot reports of encounters and near misses have substantially increased in both frequency and risk. Between November 2014 and January 2016, the FAA recorded 1,346 pilot sightings and near-misses of UAS platforms-nearly 100 per month (Federal Aviation Administration [FAA], 2016c). The sheer quantity of UAS encounter sightings highlights a clear, ongoing problem. Problem The threat of midair collision between unmanned and manned aircraft represents an unknown risk of integrating operations between these two disparate NAS users. Until such benchmarks are established for electronic Detect, Sense & Avoid Systems, pilots must rely on visual means to ensure positive separation from UAS platforms. Previous research is inconclusive about the effectiveness of this method of UAS-aircraft separation. UAS Encounter Studies A recent study by Gettinger and Michel (2015) analyzed 921 UAS incidents involving UAS platforms and manned aircraft. The study revealed several findings, including: 58.8% (n = 391) of UAS encounters occurred near airports where UAS operations are prohibited 1 Loffi et al.: Seeing the Threat: Pilot Visual Detection of sUAS in VMC