As drones for commercial and personal use have become increasingly popular, so does accidents caused by these tiny fliers. Although the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has set in place a requirement for the type of drones qualified to fly, more and more of these devices are becoming exempted from it. Now, two giant industries are experiencing frustrating situations that involve these tiny flying objects.
One of these giant industries significantly affected by drones is the aviation company. More and more headlines have talked about how drones are affecting flights and stranding thousands of annoyed passengers as a result. Take for example the incident that happened in a Chinese airport recently.
According to Mashable, an illegal flying stunt of a group of four drones caused the disruption of more than 60 flights by flying within the protected zone of the airport on Friday. One drone even flew below an incoming flight. As a result, more than 10,000 passengers were left stranded in an incident that was the third of such kind in a week.
Additionally, some 58 flights ended up getting diverted to other nearby airports for safety, while four others were forced to return. More than 10 flights were canceled on the day, while similar incidents have also been reported in the US and Ireland. The aviation industry is not the only suffering havoc from drones as insurance companies are also currently struggling how to deal with accidents and injuries caused by these fliers.
In New Hampshire, a pizza-delivering drone fell on a man and his car. According to Forbes, the pizzeria was sued for more than $300,000, but the restaurant’s insurance company refused to back the claim due to existing policies that exclude liability involving “aircraft”. However, the policy didn’t specify “drones” in its definition of aircraft, and so was forced to pay the claim.
In conclusion, there is an increasing number of accidents and issues of safety concerning drones. However, federal laws administered by the FAA aren’t always clear or existing to deal with situations surrounding drone liability. Lack of tighter and more specific laws could cause these fliers to wreck more havoc in people's everyday lives.
