Can Drones Really Get National Airspace Access?

coondoggie writes "There is a push by a variety of proponents to give unmanned aircraft more free rein in US airspace, but safety is a major hitch in that effort. The Federal Aviation Administration said this week that data from the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency, which flies unmanned systems on border patrols, shows a total of 5,688 flight hours from Fiscal Year 2006 to July 13, 2010. The CBP accident rate is 52.7 accidents per 100,000 flight hours. This accident rate is more than seven times the general aviation accident rate (7.11 accidents/100,000 flight hours) and 353 times the commercial aviation accident rate (0.149 accidents/100,000 flight hours)." An FAA executive noted that an "accident" refers to a situation in which "the aircraft has done something unplanned or unexpected and violates an airspace regulation."

Comments

I'm impressed, they are worse than GA

[e2d2]

*Warning* tangential rant below:

I'm impressed. They managed to get a worse safety record than General Aviation (GA). Kind of hard to believe considering how many terrible pilots I've seen out there. Radio calls? optional. Pattern? Straight in, screw everyone else. Traffic Frequency? For chatting. Maintenance? That's too expensive. Checklists? I'm good at remembering stuff. Etc. Safety is always stressed in aviation but yet we see people regularly getting themselves into tough spots and crashing. It's the constant struggle.

It doesn't help that a lot of the public thinks we shouldn't even be flying general aviation, and flying should only be done by "professionals" with commercial carriers and large airplanes. So we strive to maintain a safety-conscious mindset and try to educate the public on our efforts.

Now , let me just get down off this soap box. Oh yeah, UAVs. Those are cool! Except when they crash.

Re:Here's a prediction

[pgmrdlm]

I noticed the decrease in the number of lobbyists. I also noticed that the total amount spent is lower, much. But hey, unlike you. I reconize that the fucking year isn't half over yet.

You know asshole, 2010. It's only July.

If you don't have evidence to dispute the numbers,shut the fuck up asshole.

Re:Here's a prediction

[pgmrdlm]

NOTE: Figures are on this page are calculations by the Center for Responsive Politics based on data from the Senate Office of Public Records. Data for the most recent year was downloaded on April 25, 2010.

Learn to fucking read.

Learn to comprehend what the fuck you read.

Learn to provide evidence to support your fucking argument if you disagree what the evidence put forth.

Fucking asshole