Aviation regulators are seeking help from local police to tame the increase of small drone operators endangering aircraft and people on the ground.



Aviation regulators are seeking help from local police to tame the increase of small drone operators endangering aircraft and people on the ground.

The Federal Aviation Administration today issued a 12-page guide to law enforcement agencies on how to handle encounters with operators of unmanned aircraft and gather evidence in the event legal action is needed.

“The proliferation of small, relatively inexpensive unmanned aircraft presents the Federal Aviation Administration with a challenge in identifying people who don’t follow the rules of the air or who endanger the nation’s airspace,” the agency said in a news release on its website.

The release is part of the agency’s response to growing safety incidents as thousands of people without aviation experience have begun flying small unmanned aircraft. The FAA logged 193 cases of drones flying near aircraft, buildings or crowds from Feb. 22 through Nov. 11.

The FAA’s goal is to educate users, “but the guidance makes clear the agency’s authority to pursue legal enforcement action against persons who endanger the safety of the National Airspace System,” the agency said in the release.

“There is evidence of a considerable increase in the unauthorized use of” small drones, the FAA said in the guidance.

It advised police to identify witnesses, conduct initial interviews and to contact drone operators suspected of violating flight rules. Police are often in a better position to detect violations and to gather evidence than the FAA’s own inspectors, the agency said.

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