Page 16 - Hobbyists News Today

Returning to their home base so the development of automatic or autonomous flight lies somewhere down the road. >> you know we talk a lot about the number of drones just from this past holiday, the christmas holiday around the gift giving season until now, and some of the problems and issues but these changes if they are implemented you were just discussing will this only apply to companies or perhaps any mom and pop that opens up and decides we want to deliver books via drone, would that be an ...

Increasingly popular in everyday life. and today, the head of the federal aviation administration is expected to unveil two initiatives. the united states could see 1 million unmanned flights a day in the next 20 years. the government is encourage innovation while safeguarding the skies. tracie potts is live in washington. tracie good morning. >> reporter: two separate initiatives. thats coming out of what is a drone conference in atlanta, from the faa administrator. you might recall back in feb...

It is used by a lot of hobbyists. its cheaper than helicopters and burns four to five gallons of gas an hour and runs on the same fuel to fill up your car with. i want to show you this version of a gyrocopter. this is different than what the pilot flew on capitol grounds today. this is manufactures. look how small this is. it has two seats. it has a lot of the cockpit regulations that the faa requires. these pilots here tell me it seems a lot more high-tech than what the pilot was flying today i...

The guy did sell a cop a gun. thats not where you should have reserve deputy sheriffs. >> no, and also -- yeah the confluence of americas broken finance system like pay to play policing really sounds like a distaupic vision. >> now maybe he would have done that without giving all that money but its a strange coincidence. it is that isnt it? in policing. >> that actually that arrangement isnt that uncommon. part of what comes around with these sort of reserve deputies a lot of times they are cont...

And donates cars to the tulsa county sheriffs department, and then somehow he has access to the most dangerous part of police work. this was an undercover gun buy. the guy did sell a cop a gun. thats not where you should have reserve deputy sheriffs. >> no, and also -- yeah, the confluence of americas broken finance system, like pay to play policing really sounds like a dystopic vision. >> now maybe he would have done that without giving all that money, but its a strange coincidence. it is that,...

Aviation -- this could be a danger around airports? >> yes. total danger right, scott? thats why theyre looking what the guidelines will be will be very difficult for them to figure out. >> shiao yu to put them into perspective the faa is saying if five years there will be 7500 drones used for commercial oil companies, power companies, movie producers. thats not including all the hobbyists. thats a lot of drones. everyone thinks that itself a really low number. put that in perspective, there are...

Theyve put out, and yet, it looks like the joke video that someone put out about their, mocking the video that they put out, but its actually theirs. >> its wild. you should definitely do all those things. right now theres a strange, legal gray area, especially with hobbyists. the faas not going out and finding them. but there have been a lot of -- the faa released a document with close calls that some drones have come near commercial airlines. if you fly and have a close call with a commercial ...

One possibility, a drone smashes into the wing of a plane where fuel is stored, causing an explosion. >> it could have potential catastrophic repercussions. >> reporter: drones are not allowed to fly commercially without approval. hobbyists can fly small drones like this one but have to stay below 400 feet and away from airports. the problem is, people, were talking about the hobbyists, are not following the rules in some cases. just one statistic for you, wolf, theyre estimating in the next fiv...

Plane where fuel is stored and causes an explosion. >> its akin to standing on an over overpass and throwing a rock down. you may hit a car or not hit a car, but if you did, it could have potential catastrophic repercussions. >> drones are not allowed to fly commercially without faa axe proval, however hobbyists flying something that looks like this, they are allowed to fly their drones below 400 feet, jake. so if you decide to fly this below 400 feet, the problem is a lot of people are not foll...

Phil, thank you very, very much. >> thanks for having me, neil. with so many midair scares, you can imagine some flyers are feeling spooked. jonathan is at americas busiest airport, hartsfield jackson in atlanta. >> hi, neil. the reports of near misses are certainly concerning passengers, but they tell us not to the level of fear. take a listen. >> no, i travel every week for business, so im really okay with, you know, what the faa is doing. >> when you get guys with remote control planes or s...