• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Anne Hathaway says she was spammed with ChatGPT-written thank you notes after hiring for a recent role: ‘Nobody on that list gets that job’

2

Jeff Bezos pledged $10 billion for climate change. With the 2030 clock ticking, his wife, Lauren Sánchez Bezos, is leading the charge to spend it

3

The affordability crisis is so bad that, for the first time ever, both mom and dad are working full-time in most American families

1

Anne Hathaway says she was spammed with ChatGPT-written thank you notes after hiring for a recent role: ‘Nobody on that list gets that job’

2

Jeff Bezos pledged $10 billion for climate change. With the 2030 clock ticking, his wife, Lauren Sánchez Bezos, is leading the charge to spend it

3

The affordability crisis is so bad that, for the first time ever, both mom and dad are working full-time in most American families
TechDrones

Close Calls Between Drones and Airplanes Are Sky-High

By
Jonathan Vanian
Jonathan Vanian
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Jonathan Vanian
Jonathan Vanian
Down Arrow Button Icon
December 11, 2015, 8:35 PM ET
493606849
Flying drone with cameraPhotogtaph by Buena Vista Images — Getty Images
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

As drones gain popularity with hobbyists, airplane pilots are in increasing danger of serious accidents. c

A report about drone incidents released on Friday by a research group at Bard College said that there were 327 incidents of drones flying too close to piloted aircraft from December 2013 through September 2015. The report’s authors said they counted 28 incidents of pilots taking evasive action to avoid a collision.

In one instance over the summer in Charlottesville, Va., a drone flew within 25 feet of an airplane. The pilot said he didn’t have enough time to react.

These types of close calls between drones and airplanes are among the many reasons government officials are trying to create regulations for flying drones. The Federal Aviation Administration is finalizing proposed rules that would govern how businesses can use drones, a process that could take up to another two years to complete.

In the meantime, companies must get permits to use drones. However, some businesses like Amazon (AMZN) that want to use drones to deliver goods complain that the permitting process is too slow and that it hampers innovation.

As for the consumer market, the U.S. Transportation Department and the FAA want to require all hobbyists to register their drones in a central system that the agencies hope to complete before the holidays. The government recruited representatives from drone advocacy groups, drone manufacturers, and retailers like Amazon and Google (GOOG) to make recommendations for the new registration process.

The government hopes that the registrations system will help it track drones and pinpoint who is responsible for flying in restricted areas or in dangerous situations like near an airport. Part of the proposed process would require that hobbyists add to their registration number to somewhere on the drone.

However, as the Bard College report highlights, having a registration number on a drone may not be helpful when it comes to incidents like close calls with airplanes. Pilots who fly near drones will likely be traveling too fast to see the number and will therefore be unable to report it to authorities.

Some government officials like U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) are calling for so-called geofencing technology to be installed in drones that would automatically prevent them from flying into “no-fly-zones” like airports. But even that proposed solution has some critics. The Bard College report cites R. John Hansman, a director of the MIT International Center for Air Transportation who said that technology is “relatively easy to defeat if you don’t want to comply with it.”

“So the whole idea of geofencing is pretty bogus,” Hansman is quoted in the report. “It’s useful if you have a cooperative user. But a non-cooperative user who doesn’t want to geofence can get around it.”

Still, many organizations are working on technology to prevent dangerous collisions. NASA, with the help of universities, drone makers, and retailers, is developing a drone air-traffic control system that, in theory, would track drones as they fly and automatically divert them if they are in danger of colliding with piloted aircraft.

On Thursday, Stanford University, one of the partners, said it had created software that could identify when drones are about to crash into each other and, instead, steer them clear of a crash. It’s a small step in will likely be a years-long project to create a viable system.

Subscribe to Data Sheet, Fortune’s daily newsletter on the business of technology.

For more about drones, check out the following Fortune video:

About the Author
By Jonathan Vanian
LinkedIn iconTwitter icon

Jonathan Vanian is a former Fortune reporter. He covered business technology, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, data privacy, and other topics.

See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

Both U.S. and Chinese AI firms are setting up shop in Singapore. Can the country become Asia’s neutral AI hub?
AsiaSingapore
Both U.S. and Chinese AI firms are setting up shop in Singapore. Can the country become Asia’s neutral AI hub?
By Angelica AngJune 19, 2026
2 hours ago
Exclusive: Azzi Fudd joins Project B, the international league chasing a billion-dollar opportunity in global basketball
MPWSports
Exclusive: Azzi Fudd joins Project B, the international league chasing a billion-dollar opportunity in global basketball
By Emma HinchliffeJune 19, 2026
9 hours ago
g
CommentaryVenture Capital
I watched enterprises buy AI that solved the wrong problem. So I left Dell and built a startup to fix it
By Ganesh PadmanabhanJune 19, 2026
11 hours ago
Sam Altman looks down and to the side, frowning.
AIOpenAI
Sam Altman was ‘0%’ excited to be a CEO of a public company—but OpenAI is taking steps to compete in the AI IPO blitz anyway
By Sasha RogelbergJune 19, 2026
11 hours ago
Record revenues. Record profits. Record revenue per employee. The Fortune 500 is richer than ever—and employing fewer people
EconomyFortune 500
Record revenues. Record profits. Record revenue per employee. The Fortune 500 is richer than ever—and employing fewer people
By Claire ZillmanJune 19, 2026
12 hours ago
Samantha Gloede
CommentaryLeadership
Boards must avoid sleepwalking into the AI era. KPMG’s Global AI risk chief has a survival guide
By Samantha GloedeJune 19, 2026
12 hours ago

Most Popular

Anne Hathaway says she was spammed with ChatGPT-written thank you notes after hiring for a recent role: ‘Nobody on that list gets that job’
Success
Anne Hathaway says she was spammed with ChatGPT-written thank you notes after hiring for a recent role: ‘Nobody on that list gets that job’
By Orianna Rosa RoyleJune 18, 2026
2 days ago
Jeff Bezos pledged $10 billion for climate change. With the 2030 clock ticking, his wife, Lauren Sánchez Bezos, is leading the charge to spend it
Environment
Jeff Bezos pledged $10 billion for climate change. With the 2030 clock ticking, his wife, Lauren Sánchez Bezos, is leading the charge to spend it
By Sydney LakeJune 19, 2026
11 hours ago
The affordability crisis is so bad that, for the first time ever, both mom and dad are working full-time in most American families
Economy
The affordability crisis is so bad that, for the first time ever, both mom and dad are working full-time in most American families
By Jacqueline MunisJune 17, 2026
2 days ago
Current price of oil as of June 18, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of June 18, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJune 18, 2026
1 day ago
Hundreds of Stanford students walked out of their grad ceremony to protest Google CEO’s commencement speech. It wasn’t all about AI
Big Tech
Hundreds of Stanford students walked out of their grad ceremony to protest Google CEO’s commencement speech. It wasn’t all about AI
By Tristan BoveJune 15, 2026
4 days ago
Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer publicly dismissed Chrome as a 'rounding error'—but Google’s CEO says he used the jab as fuel to win the browser-wars
Success
Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer publicly dismissed Chrome as a 'rounding error'—but Google’s CEO says he used the jab as fuel to win the browser-wars
By Preston ForeJune 17, 2026
2 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.