Air Marshals See Evolving Drone Threats

The threats surrounding unauthorized drone use are evolving as they become much more common in households and also find their way into criminal hands, according to a senior Transportation Security Administration official.

“The threat from drones has changed over the years,” said Bryan Dvorak, acting supervisory air marshal in charge of the Law Enforcement Branch, speaking during the Air Line Pilots Association’s (ALPA) 70th Air Safety Forum in Washington, D.C.

Initially, the TSA’s focus was on the persistent disruptions from them, such as a drone crossing a runway, causing delays, and generally impacting airport operations. “Airports are complex environments. They’re interconnected,” he pointed out. “A slowdown at one airport can cause a ripple effect across the country that will take quite some time for the system to absorb.”

However, Dvorak added, “That’s not the same threat that we face today. We’ve seen a large increase in the number of drones available to the general public. We’ve seen drones being used by criminals. We’ve seen drones being used in warfare overseas.”

He cited a recent example of how the problem has changed: a drone carrying an explosive was found on a German airfield. The drone did not explode, however. “The takeaway for us is not that the drone didn’t explode or that the device malfunctioned,” Dvorak explained. “The takeaway for us is that the drone was able to reach the airfield at all.”

When pilots encounter drones in the airspace, they have no idea whether it involves a careless or clueless operator or whether it’s a criminal with intent to disrupt operations. But both scenarios involve a great amount of risk, Dvorak maintained.

The Federal Air Marshal Service is addressing drone threats to airspace security and safety through three principles: detect, identify, and defeat. Detect means spotting the drone in time to decide on action. Identify is understanding the risk that they pose. And defeat, he said, is having a legal pathway to a coordinated response that could remove the drone without affecting crewed aviation.

Dvorak acknowledged that drones bring benefits to commerce, research, public safety, and national security. “Pilots should be allowed to fly their drones, legally and safely,” he said. However, “The airports are not the open sky.”

Managing unauthorized use crosses numerous laws—privacy, communications, property, and national security. “I am definitely not a lawyer, but I’ll tell you that we have been looking at this problem far before we had the authorities to enact our three principles,” he said.

Helping the service to bridge those laws was the Preventing Emerging Threats Act passed in 2018, giving it the ability to detect, track, identify, and monitor drones in the airspace. Last year’s National Defense Authorization Act further strengthened its legal capabilities. “We are now able…to defeat drones that are operating illegally or dangerously in airspace.”

In recent years, the Federal Air Marshal Service has focused on what the airspace looks like at airports. It placed sensors around airports to monitor normal operations and the greater environment. With this data, the service developed heat maps depicting where drones are most likely to take off, land, and operate in the area. Those maps have been shared with aviation stakeholders, along with state and local responders.

“Our goal is to make sure that they understand what normal looks like, so when a drone is operating outside of that, they know how and where to respond,” he said. The service has been educating drone pilots. “We’ve encountered hundreds of pilots that are operating in an area with their new toy because they just didn’t think to look at where they’re flying,” Dvorak said. “We provide them with education and outreach to ensure that they are following the rules and laws and know how to research where to fly correctly.”

It has partnered with state and local law enforcement, sharing best practices and providing an airspace awareness course. The Federal Air Marshal Service has learned that responders and the public in general often confuse flights of crewed aircraft with drones at night. On the defeat front, the service has partnered with the Department of Justice so it can issue violation notices, accompanied by fines.

All of these efforts are in partnership with multiple law enforcement agencies, the FAA, local officials, and the public. “We’ve had great success in our first foray into this mission space, as proven by the success that we had with the interagency during the FIFA [World Cup] and America 250 events this summer.”

Importantly, the service wants to ensure that its interdiction activities do not place normal aviation operations at risk. He told the airline pilots at the ALPA forum that their partnership is equally important. “Everyone here knows what normal looks like in their area. You are all detectors. Every single one of you can look out and see maybe somebody that is acting suspiciously or carrying a backpack that shouldn’t be in an area or a drone controller or just carrying a drone,” he said. “‘See something, say something’ still matters to us.”

When asked if the Department of Homeland Security has sufficient countermeasures to stop a drone attack in Class B airspace or at large airports, Dvorak said he could not answer that in the open forum. “But know that we are working together with the department to ensure the utmost attention is brought to this mission space.”