Civilian drones becoming real threat to commercial aviation: IATA

so......

if it is a real and growing threat....

then..... how come there are zero comments and zero accidents to report?

Let's look more closely. I have never heard of the IATA. And look at this gem.

"The Center for the Study of Drones at New York-based Bard College said i"

I translate that as a poorly funded couple of professors at a "New York-based" college, whatever that is. If I put my campus in Tulsa, OK, but rent a basement office in Rochester, can I be New York-based too?

I am going to file this under fake news, if that is ok with everyone. None of this article convinces me in the least that drones are a real and growing threat.

They just can't stand people having freedom on anything, Sadly following Japan's "fly a toy go to jail" law.

And I suppose the remote control airplanes, helicopters and rockets which hobbyists have been flying for decades are not a threat, or less of a threat?

It sounds like regulators are trying to find a way to get revenue for a problem which doesn't really exist, by either levying fines against those who fly drones, or requiring a permit or insurance to do so.

@5SpeedRacer5 I agree. It seems like someone has an agenda. Likely, somebody wants to create another division of the government to regulate drone use. (read: Amakudari) I got a drone last year and guess what! There are already rules in place for them!

Here's the link for the rules: http://www.mlit.go.jp/koku/koku_tk10_000003.html

And a map showing areas you can't fly due to population density: maps.gsi.go.jp/#14/

In the upper-left corner, click: 情報 -> 表示できる情報 -> 他機関の情報 -> 人口集中地区H２２年

Enjoy your drone!

Drone are easy to fly and require much less skill compared to a model rocket, helicopter or airplane. They also sell them everywhere while a true model aviation hobbyist is not going to build or buy a ready to go aircraft. The real danger now is every whack job can buy a drone and do real damage or kill people with them compared to real hobbyists and model makers who have whack jobs too but not like the general population me thinks.

They are a real problem, plenty of reports of near collisions with planes around airports. Rules and Laws are being set up to restrict when, where and how you can fly them.

Many people!e have been insured by unsafe flying, from drones going beyond the controller range(like any radio controlled machine).

Flying a plane or helicopter takes skill and some time to master.

@5speedracer NEVER HEARD OF IATA?!? Seriously?!?

I take it you've never flown then? Next time have a look around, travel agent locations, travel documents, in airports and even aircraft sometimes have the IATA logo on them.

Safety is the number one priority for IATA.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA /aɪˈɑːtə/[1]) is a trade association of the world’s airlines. Consisting of around 260 airlines, primarily major carriers, representing 117 countries, the IATA's member airlines account for carrying approximately 83% of total Available Seat Kilometers air traffic.[2] IATA supports airline activity and helps formulate industry policy and standards. It is headquartered in Montreal, Canada with Executive Offices in Geneva, Switzerland.

FYI, they have been around for 70 years. LONG before drones were toys.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Air_Transport_Association

http://www.iata.org/Pages/default.aspx