The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is overestimating the risks associated with many types of drone operations, blocking the introduction of drones that could provide potentially life-saving benefits to society, a report by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) says.1
The report, which was required under the terms of a 2016 law, was sponsored by the FAA.
Released in early June by the NAS Committee on Assessing the Risks of Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration, the report said that the FAA’s “fear of making a mistake drives a risk culture … that is too often overly conservative, particularly with regard to UAS [unmanned aircraft systems, as drones sometimes are called] technologies which do not pose a direct threat to human life in the same way as technologies used in manned aircraft.”
The report said that the FAA has not given enough weight to the potential value of drones in reducing risk and saving lives.
The document cited a Jan. 18 incide…
