Nevada Launches a Center For Drone Safety Workshops
Recently, a video surfaced on YouTube showing a drone illegally flying dangerously close to a plane at the McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. Luckily the incident did not end in disaster. According to Chris Walach, the senior director at the Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems (NIAS), had the drone been sucked into the jet engine, the plane could have crashed into the Las Vegas strip. This could have caused massive casualties to the thousands of pedestrians on the strip not to mention the hundreds of passengers aboard the plane.
Through the new Nevada Drone Center of Excellence for Public Safety, NIAS is hoping to make the skies safer. Located inside the Swiss Innovation Center near South Decatur Boulevard, the center conducts public workshops and provides educational materials on the best practices for drones drone. Currently, one of the biggest challenges facing the FAA is the issue of drones flying into the US airspace and other restricted areas. According to a survey by NIAS, there is a growing concern for safety in Nevada alone. A report published in June by NIAS found that almost 80 percent of the respondents were worried about a drone hitting an aircraft and causing a disaster. About 90 percent of the respondents were worried about drones flying into FAA space illegally in areas such as concerts, sports stadiums, and other public areas.
The FAA said last month that it receives over 100 reports of drones flying in restricted area each month. With drones growing in popularity across the US and other parts of the world, this has become a growing concern that needs to be addressed immediately before tragedy strikes. Walach said the Center of Excellence will be a great addition to the national drone industry as it could help find solutions to this problem.
The Center of Excellence is one of many steps Nevada has taken to try and lead the country in drone testing. A report by Business Facilities recently ranked the state as second behind New York when it comes to drone technology. New York led mainly due to its 50-mile long air corridor which allows drones to be flown beyond the line of sight to help in development and testing. Nevada is one of seven drones test sites, and the only test site to cover the entire state. The other sites only cover universities and smaller areas.
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