Florida Sen. Bill Nelson was in Orlando Friday meeting with airport directors from Orlando, Miami, Tampa, Jacksonville, Sarasota, Clearwater and Panama City. The subject was drones.
This is a step in the Democratic senator's plan to help federal agencies mitigate safety risks associated with unmanned aerial vehicles.
Nelson wants to insert a measure into legislation that would help airports install technologies that could thwart unwanted drones. The technologies would be able to shut down drones that stray into no-fly-zones or use sensors to intercept drones.
Why the urgency?
In the first place, a Bard College report issued in December by the Center for the Study of the Drone found at least 241 close calls -- a close call being defined as a drone coming within 500 feet of an aircraft -- in cities across the U.S. In 158, or 65.6 percent, of the incidents, the drone came within 200 feet, and in 51 incidents it came within 50 feet.
The report's analysis was based on a review of government records from Dec. 17, 2013, to Sept. 12, 2015.
Florida was in the thick of it. Two of the cities with most “close encounters” were in the Sunshine State. Miami ranked fourth with 24 reported incidents, and Orlando ranked 11th with 13.
In the second place, in 2014 news leaked that Walt Disney Parks and Resorts was working on an intricate system using controlled drones to supplement its nighttime entertainment. The park proposed to --
- use drones to control massive marionettes
- and/or use drones to carry screens that could act as what they dubbed "flixels," or "floating pixels."
According to Stitchkingdom.com, a website that monitors happenings at the Disney properties, in late October 2015, Disney decided to move ahead with these plans by filing an exemption from the FAA under Section 333, the section that governs the commercial use of drones. The application was published Dec. 31, but the FAA has not yet responded.
Stitchkingdom.com says the exemption request defines the original plans further by noting that ‘Flixels’ refers specifically to Disney’s proprietary unmanned aircraft vehicle (UAV) system. The "payload" is defined as a show element, which is a physical structure or “special effects mechanism weighing no more than 5 pounds that is securely attached to each multicopter [a four, six or eight blade drone, manufactured by 3DR] with 18-pound tensile strength nylon cable ties."
Further in the document, the application claims the payloads may be larger than the drones themselves and are "typically an inanimate object" and that drones will fly for approximately five minutes at a time in subnetworks of five multicopters each and will go no higher than 150 feet above ground level at a maximum speed of 6 knots per hour.
Disney claims flight paths will "largely take place over water elements and restricted areas," which should be no problem. As much of the document refers to Disney’s safety controls, Disney says the system will include geofencing that will prevent the UAVs from leaving their controlled airspace. It will be a minimum of 100 feet away from guest viewing.
According to the application, "Flixels are to accompany entertainment at the Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resorts, including during each resort’s nightly Fireworks Spectaculars.
"Deployed from a monitored platform designated as the launch/land area in restricted access areas of each resort, Flixels will be “magically” incorporated into Disney story elements that engage and inspire children and their families. Once the show segment concludes, Flixels will return to the launching/landing area."
Incidentally, in other news about drones, in December the Federal Aviation Administration announced new rules that require nearly all owners of remote-controlled recreational drones to register in a national database, an attempt by the agency to address safety fears about the machines.
Reach Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com or at 228-282-2423. Twitter: @NancyLBSmith
