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- HOBBYIST DRONES FORCE TANKERS TO ABANDON WILDFIRE-FIGHTING EFFORTS
Hobbyist drones force tankers to abandon wildfire-fighting efforts
- By Joel Hruska on June 26, 2015 at 4:19 pm
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Hobbyist and civilian drones have become quite popular in the last few years, thanks to falling prices, improved reliability, and growing interest from companies like Amazon, Facebook, and Google. Tension between drone operators and commercial aircraft have also been mounting, however, with numerous videos of near-misses and several lawsuits filed over privacy concerns. Now, civilian drones have caused significant problems for firefighters trying to battle wildfires around Big Bear Lake, California.
According to the LA Times, an air tanker and two smaller planes were forced to turn back from the wildfire, which has grown to 25,599 acres and is currently just 19% contained. On Wednesday, when the event occurred, the tanker plane spotted a drone circling at 11,000 feet, most likely to take pictures of the action. “These folks who are handling these drones, I have to assume they have no idea what they’re doing,” Chon Bribiescas, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service, said Thursday. “They not only endangered the folks on the ground, but they endanger the pilots.” The DC-10 diverted and dropped its flame retardant on a different fire in Nevada, but the smaller planes were forced to dump their loads due to landing weight restrictions. On the return flight back to base, the pilots noticed additional drones flying at 1200 feet, far above the 400-foot limit set by the FAA.
Drones have a potentially valuable role to play in fighting fires or gathering information, but this kind of joyriding poses a significant threat to both pilots and ground crews. There’s no way for the commercial aviators to contact private drone operators, which means there’s no way to warn them that an aircraft is in the vicinity. Planes don’t tend to fly in tight quarters unless they’re in stunt shows, and a drone can maneuver much more quickly than an aircraft. This means there’s little a plane can do to avoid a clueless drone operator suddenly swerving into their own airspace.
The haze and flames don’t do much to help visibility
The FAA is expected to issue new rules governing drone aircraft operation in the near future, but stunts like this are already illegal. The Bureau of Land Management has released multiple statements warning operators that “Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFRs) are typically put in place during wildfires that require most aircraft, manned or unmanned, other than those engaged in wildfire suppression operations to obtain permission from fire managers to enter specified airspace.” A drone flying over a wildfire might capture amazing photos or video, but the firefighting teams in California had to call a halt to aerial fire suppression due to the threat from drone aircraft. That lull in operation gave the fire time to establish itself.
It’s not clear what the solution to these incursions would be. Potential fixes might include requiring drones to broadcast an identifying radio transponder or operator licensing restrictions. It might also be possible to create a communication system that could relay orders to vacate an area back to the drone operator. One way or another, we need a solution before an drone aircraft operating at an illegal altitude, area, or in hazardous environments really does lead to people getting killed.
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