FAA told to make room for drones in U.S. skies

FAA told to make room for drones in U.S. skies
By Bart Jansen, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON – Within a few years, that flying object overhead might not be a bird or a plane, but an unmanned aircraft.

Drones, perhaps best known for their combat missions in Afghanistan, are increasingly looking to share room in U.S. skies with passenger planes. And that's prompting safety concerns.

Right now, remote-controlled drones are used in the U.S. mostly by the military and Customs and Border Patrol in restricted airspace.


Now, organizations from police forces searching for missing persons to academic researchers counting seals on the polar ice cap is eager to launch drones weighing a few pounds to some the size of a jetliner in the same airspace as passenger planes.

On Monday, the Senate sent to President Obama legislation that would require the Federal Aviation Administration to devise ways for that to happen safely in three years.

"It's about coming up with a plan where everybody can get along," says Doug Marshall, a New Mexico State University professor helping develop regulations and standards. "Nobody wants to get hurt. Nobody wants to cause an accident."
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