Showing posts with label recreational activities. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recreational activities. Show all posts

Thursday, January 24, 2019

Drone Scare Near New York City Shows Hazard Posed to Air Travel; The New York Times, January 23, 2019

Patrick McGeehan and Cade Metz, The New York Times; Drone Scare Near New York City Shows Hazard Posed to Air Travel

"The disruption was all the more alarming because it came just one month after reported drone sightings caused the shutdown of Gatwick Airport in London, one of the busiest in Europe.

The upheaval at Newark illustrated how vulnerable the air-travel system is to the proliferation of inexpensive drones that can weigh as much as 50 pounds and are capable of flying high and fast enough to get in the path of commercial jets, experts on aviation safety and drone technology said. It also raised questions about whether airports are prepared enough to identify drones and prevent them from paralyzing travel and leaving passengers stranded.

“This is a really disturbing trend,” said John Halinski, former deputy administrator of the federal Transportation Security Administration. “It is a real problem because drones are multiplying every day. They really pose a threat in a number of ways to civil aviation.”"