The injuries most likely to occur when a small drone strikes a person are blunt force trauma, cuts and penetration injuries, according to a study conducted for the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The report on the study, released last week, said researchers from a consortium of universities aim eventually to determine the risk of serious injury if a drone — also known by other terms, including unmanned aircraft system (UAS) or remotely piloted aircraft system — hits a person on the ground.
The consortium included the University of Alabama–Huntsville, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Mississippi State University and the University of Kansas, all of which were conducting research through the Alliance for System Safety of UAS Through Research Excellence (ASSURE).
The study “made a start toward better understanding the risks of allowing small unmanned aircraft … to fly over people,” the FAA said.
Research included a review of techniques used in asse…
