Report: Wing on Google’s Drone Failed, Caused Crash
A massive drone Google was testing as part of a project to provide Internet service with unmanned aircraft instead of satellites crashed after it encountered an updraft and one of its wings failed, U.S. accident investigators have concluded. The Solara 50 had just lifted off from a remote, desert landing strip in New Mexico on May 1 when it began experiencing control problems, according to a report by the National Transportation...
FAA Says Drone Sightings Double
Washington — Pilot reports of drone sightings so far this year are more than double last year, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, raising concern about the potential for a deadly collision. There have been more than 650 reports this year by pilots of unmanned aircraft flying near manned aircraft, the FAA said in a statement. There were 238 drone sightings in all of 2014. The reports come from pilots of a variety of...
FBI: Flights Rarely Track Cellphones
Washington — The FBI assured Congress in an unusual, confidential briefing last week that its plane surveillance program is a by-the-books operation short on high-definition cameras — with some planes equipped with binoculars — and said only five times in five years has it tracked cellphones from the sky. The FBI would not openly answer some questions about its planes, which routinely orbit major U.S. cities and rural areas. Although...
Privacy Tops List of Drone Concerns
Pittsburgh — Amazon wants to use them to deliver orders. One hovered over a Pittsburgh Pirates baseball game last summer. And earlier this year, one crashed onto the White House lawn. Drones are not everywhere yet, but once the Federal Aviation Administration fine-tunes the rules for commercial drone use, thousands of companies could receive licenses to do business via unmanned aircraft. Using a drone for business purposes poses a...
