Sen. Charles Schumer said Wednesday he will propose legislation in the fall that would require all drones to include technology that would prevent them from entering “no fly” zones.
Schumer, D-N.Y., said he would move to attach his proposal to legislation reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration, which Congress is expected to consider in September.
The technology, known as “geofencing,” uses GPS data to create boundaries for drone flights.
“This technology works and will effectively ‘fence off’ drones from sensitive areas like airports,” Schumer said Wednesday. “When it comes to drones in the vicinity of commercial flights carrying hundreds of passengers at a time, the FAA has been playing whack-a-mole across the skies, and that’s certainly not good enough.”
Schumer said he drafted the proposal in response to incidents involving drones flying near aircraft, including passenger jets. The FAA has reported an increase in “near miss” incidents involving passenger jets and drones.
Earlier this month, a Delta flight and a JetBlue flight came within feet of drones in two separate incidents as the aircraft were landing at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Current authorization for the FAA runs out Sept. 30, so it is likely Congress will act on new legislation next month.
