Aircraft pilots, ATC personnel and other “concerned citizens” reported 583 possible hazards and/or encounters with unmanned aircraft systems in U.S. airspace between August 22 and January 31, according to the latest report from the FAA, released on Friday. While it's hard to do a direct year-over-year comparison since the FAA began collecting this data only in November 2014, the average 116.6 sightings per month in the latest report is a 36.4-percent increase over the 85 average per month in the agency’s previous report that covered Nov. 13, 2014 to Aug. 20, 2015.
“Reports of unmanned aircraft have increased dramatically since 2014,” the FAA said. “Safely integrating unmanned aircraft into the National Airspace System is one of our top priorities, and the agency wants to send a clear message that operating drones around airplanes and helicopters is dangerous and illegal.”
None of the sightings resulted in any collisions or damage to any aircraft and evasive action was reportly taken by a pilot in only one incident—a Cessna 172 flown on Sept. 19, 2015 in Ocala, Fla. Three of the reports, including one filed by a Spirit Airlines crew and another from a British Airways crew, did not specify whether evasive action was necessary.