An Aeromexico plane suffered a radome damage on approach to Tijuana, Mexico, on December 12th.
The incident happened when the Boeing 737-800 plane was performing flight AM-770 from Guadalajara, Mexico.
The plane continued for a safe landing.
It is believed that the damage was caused by a drone strike.
Aerolineas Argentinas flight AR-1865 suffered a drone strike near Aeroparque Jorge Newbery in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on November 11th.
The incident happened when the Boeing 737-800 plane flying from Trelew, Argentina, was on final approach to Aeroparque Jorge Newbery.
The plane continued for a safe landing. Everyone aboard remained unharmed.
Although the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) can’t yet definitively answer those questions, studies by a consortium of leading universities have made a start toward better understanding the risks of allowing small unmanned aircraft – or drones – to fly over people.
The consortium that conducted the research includes the University of Alabama-Huntsville; Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University; Mississippi State University; and the University of Kansas, through the Alliance for System Safety of UAS through Research Excellence (ASSURE). ASSURE represents 23 of the world’s leading research institutions and 100 leading industry and government partners. It began the research in September 2015.
The research team reviewed techniques used to assess blunt force trauma, penetration injuries and lacerations – the most significant threats to people on the ground. The team classified collision severity by identifying hazardous drone features, such as unprotected rotors.
The group also reviewed more than 300 publications from the automotive industry and consumer battery market, as well as toy standards and the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) database. Finally, the team conducted crash tests, dynamic modeling, and analyses related to kinetic energy, energy transfer, and crash dynamics.
When the studies were complete, personnel from NASA, the Department of Defense, FAA chief scientists, and other subject matter experts conducted a strenuous peer review of the findings.
The studies identified three dominant injury types applicable to small drones:
The research showed multi-rotor drones fall more slowly than the same mass of metal due to higher drag on the drone. Unlike most drones, wood and metal debris do not deform and transfer most of their energy to whatever they hit. Also, the lithium batteries that power many small drones need a unique standard to ensure safety.
The team recommended continued research to refine the metrics developed. The team members suggested developing a simplified test method to characterize potential injury, and validating a proposed standard and models using potential injury severity test data.
The second phase of ASSURE’s research is set to begin in June 2017, and will examine the risks of collisions with aircraft.
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The report on the ASSURE research and two video files are available here:
http://pr.cirlot.com/faa-and-assure-announce-results-of-ground-collision-study/
A military helicopter crashed near the town of Pensilvania in Caldas Department of Colombia, on June 26th.
The helicopter went down while it was travelling from Quibdo city to the military base at Tolemaida.
Seventeen soldiers were killed in the crash. According to President Juan Manuel Santos, “The soldiers were in the region of Uraba on a reconnaissance flight, many of them were experts in drone aircraft, others were supporting military operations against the National Liberation Army guerrillas.”
It is believed that the accident happened due to poor weather conditions.
KLM flight KL-1286 made a safe landing at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Netherlands, on May 6th.
The Boeing 737-800, en-route from Edinburgh, United Kingdom, was about to reach Amsterdam when the crew noticed a drone passing at a distance of around 30 meters to the left.
The plane landed safely.
No injuries were reported.
The airport authorities could not spot any drone.
Lufthansa flight LH-456 continued for a safe landing at Los Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles, California, on March 18.
The Airbus A380-800, flying from Frankfurt, Germany to Los Angeles, California, was on its approach to runway when it encountered an object passing over, presumably a drone.
The plane landed safely.
All 525 people onboard remained unharmed.
The incident is being investigated.
A drone crashed into the 40th floor of the Empire State Building in New York, on February 4.
According to the owner Sean Nivin Riddle, 29, all he wanted “was to shoot 5 seconds of video to promote a non-profit”. The drone ended up in a landing on the 35th floor.
No injuries were reported.
Riddle was taken into custody after the incident. He is facing charges of illegal aviation in and over the city, and reckless endangerment.
On November 18, the U.S. Aviation Safety Board ruled that the Federal Aviation Administration has the authority to regulate drone flights.
According to the ruling, the FAA has the power to hold the operators of unmanned aircrafts accountable, when they are using them recklessly. The decision came after the FAA appealed a ruling of an NTSB judge that overturned a $10,000 FAA fine against Raphael Pirker.
In 2011, Pirker remotely operated his 56-inch foam glider to make an aerial video for the University of Virginia. According to the FAA, he operated the aircraft in a reckless manner and at one point, a person had to duck out to avoid it.
Pirker appealed the fine, saying that his glider was only a model aircraft and therefore, should not be held under the FAA regulations about manned aircrafts. In March, an NTSB judge ruled that FAA has no authority to regulate the unmanned aircrafts.
Following the new decision, the Raphael Pirker case will be again sent to an administrative law judge who will determine if the aircraft was operated recklessly.