A small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) vehicle came so close to a US Airways Bombardier CRJ200 near Tallahassee, Florida, U.S., one day last March that the airline pilot was convinced the two aircraft had collided.
The pilot reported what he thought was a near midair collision to air traffic controllers, who had no information about UAS — also sometimes known as remotely piloted aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones — operating in the area. Ultimately, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) investigated but was unable to identify the UAS or its pilot.
In this instance, and a number of others like it in recent months, danger did not materialize, Jim Williams, manager of the FAA UAS Integration Office, said in remarks earlier this year to the Small Unmanned Systems Business Exposition in San Francisco. Nevertheless, he added that, in similar occurrences in the future, the results “could be catastrophic,” especially if a small UAS aircraft is ingested into…
