I recently blogged about President Obama's directive, and Congress's approval of said directive, requiring the FAA to develop a program allowing as many as 30,000 aerial drones to fly in United States airspace. One of the concerns I expressed in that blog was that drones represent a new and unnecessary hazard in our already overcrowded airspace. I expressed concern that aerial drones would possibly fall to the ground, endangering anyone in the vicinity, and that drones could crash into private and commercial aircraft.
My concerns were well-placed it seems, although further behind the times than I thought. One "watchdog" website identifies about ninety Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) crashes since 2007. Many of these "alleged" crash reports are supported by other sources easily located on the Internet, including online newspaper sources. Some crash reports are even confirmed by US military reports, although the listed cause of such crashes may or may not be accurate.
The first domestic UAV crash of which I was aware was the crash of a military drone in Maryland. This drone was a Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk. Did you, my friends, take some comfort in the belief that drones were small aircraft similar in size to hobby remote-controlled airplanes? Not this one. This UAV was nearly fifty feet long (the same size as a tractor-trailer big rig!) with a wingspan of over one hundred feet. In other words, the drone that crashed in a Maryland swamp on June 11th was the same size as the average American fighter jet! See this story:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-maryland-drone-crash-20120611,0,1085352.story
As you can see from the smoke cloud, this drone does not leave a small "footprint." Had this drone struck another aircraft, the outcome would have been tragically different. By the way, dear taxpayer, the cost to you and me for losses incurred in this drone accident is estimated by sources to be from as "little" as $46 million, to as high as $126 million.
As I said, this was the first domestic drone crash of which I was aware, but it is definitely not the FIRST drone crash in the US. In fact, at least two drones have crashed here in good ol' Texas. The news of a police drone crash in Montgomery County hit the press in March of 2012, but the accident actually occurred in the Fall of 2011. Apparently the accident, which was kept "hush hush" as long as possible, happened when the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office SWAT Team was holding a practice session in a rural area several miles outside of Houston. The drone was being tested both as an aid to the SWAT operation and as a means of documenting the operation. Shortly after the drone was launched, it "lost communication" with the ground crew. The drone went into a "shut down mode" that was intended to allow the drone to land safely. Unfortunately, the drone crashed into the SWAT armored vehicle. No one was injured and the drone sustained little damage.
Another drone crashed into the back yard of a home in El Paso. The homeowner called police. Suddenly homeland security was involved, then the US military. The drone, it turned out, belonged to the Mexican Army. Why was a Mexican drone, controlled by a Mexican flight crew, flying over El Paso anyway? But I digress... The drone in question was a smaller UAV, about the size of a remote-controlled hobby airplane. While this drone probably would not have caused an airplane crash if it had flown over the nearby El Paso International Airport, it could very easily have killed someone had it struck a pedestrian. With very little fanfare, the drone was later returned to the Mexican government.
This news story appears in the El Paso Times:
http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_16886479
Actually, NO, it does not. When you follow the link you will find that the story is "no longer available." Coincidence? It is interesting that many other stories from the same issue ARE available.
It turns out that the people of Alamogordo, New Mexico are also quite familiar with UAV crashes. According to information provided by the Public Information Office of the United States Air Force 49th Wing, NINE drones have crashed since September of 2009. The Air Force communications officer insisted that all the crashes occurred on Holloman Air Force Base property, and that no private property was damaged, and no people were injured. As the residents of Alamogordo and the surrounding area go about their business, I wonder if they harbor at least some fear that someday a drone might come crashing down on them. It seems obvious that there are many "bugs" that need to be worked out in the military's drone program before these dangerous machines can be safely unleashed in public air space. Oops, oh yeah, the drones are ALREADY flying around our public air space.
According to the "drone watch" sources available on the Internet, the US Military has spent as much as $1.6 billion to date on the various drone programs. I think this figure is very conservative. If one computes the cost per drone and plugs in the number of drones KNOWN to be in operation, the cost easily outstrips the nearly two billion dollar figure. But regardless of the outrageous cost of the United States drone initiative, the true cost is seen in the increased possibility of needless but tragic loss of human life should a drone crash into a crowded commercial jet or fall onto a crowded shopping center, and the loss of our freedom from unreasonable surveillance by whomever is operating a given drone.
http://dronewarsuk.wordpress.com/drone-crash-database/
As you can see from the information at this site, the United States is flying drones over several sovereign nations IN ADDITION to the two nations with which we are "at war" at the moment. Other militaries have lost drones as well. Incidentally, it is quite possible that Al Quaida now has at least one US drone as result of a drone crash.
I hope that you will join me urging our lawmakers to create legislation that is very restrictive concerning both the numbers of drones in use in US air space, and concerning the legal uses of drones. Although I am not for a lot of government control of free commerce, I would like to see very restrictive legislation concerning the use of drones in the private, corporate sectors as well. Drones, regardless of whether military or civilian in nature, have proven to be dangerous to the public due to the fairly regular frequency with which they crash. On top of that, computer hackers will inevitably break into drone controller systems, either to "have fun" with the drones, or to commit sinister acts of terror against the public. There is legitimate reason for very limited use of drones in military missions. There is also a legitimate use of drones for VERY LIMITED law enforcement purposes, all of which can be accomplished with the use of standard search warrants, or that falls within STRICT limits during emergency situations where a warrant cannot be obtained in time for the situation to be resolved.
Drones (UAV) are in use over our heads now, keeping an eye on you and me, the People, even though we have done nothing that can be construed as probable cause to search and surveil us. Our (US Military and CIA) drones are also flying over the sovereign territory of other nations with whom we are not engaged in war. Our drones are poised to rain down death on at least two continents and over the oceans. I can only believe it is just a matter of time until we read of United States citizens being killed by US drones right here in the United States. I can only believe that we as citizens will become subjects of secret monitoring by local police and by federal agencies both without reasonable suspicion and without our knowledge of such surveillance.
But, it is not completely too late. I also believe if we constantly and loudly demand of our lawmakers an end to the national drone program, AND an end to the use of drones to violate national air space of nations with whom we are not at war, we can convince Congress to cut the purse strings for these programs. I certainly hope we can unite and demand an end to the use of UAVs to commit murder against our citizens and against foreign citizens as well. In the case of the use of drones to eliminate LEGALLY DESIGNATED military targets, I realize that there is, unfortunately, a place for drones so that our servicemen do not face unnecessary danger. Again though, I believe that drones in these situations should only be used against military targets with whom we are at war. Drones have a place in military and in law enforcement. But it is our duty as citizens to demand that drones be used within these two limited functions, and it is our duty to turn out those lawmakers who refuse to protect us from the consequences unlimited and unwarranted use of drones both here and around the world.
My concerns were well-placed it seems, although further behind the times than I thought. One "watchdog" website identifies about ninety Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) crashes since 2007. Many of these "alleged" crash reports are supported by other sources easily located on the Internet, including online newspaper sources. Some crash reports are even confirmed by US military reports, although the listed cause of such crashes may or may not be accurate.
The first domestic UAV crash of which I was aware was the crash of a military drone in Maryland. This drone was a Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk. Did you, my friends, take some comfort in the belief that drones were small aircraft similar in size to hobby remote-controlled airplanes? Not this one. This UAV was nearly fifty feet long (the same size as a tractor-trailer big rig!) with a wingspan of over one hundred feet. In other words, the drone that crashed in a Maryland swamp on June 11th was the same size as the average American fighter jet! See this story:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-maryland-drone-crash-20120611,0,1085352.story
As you can see from the smoke cloud, this drone does not leave a small "footprint." Had this drone struck another aircraft, the outcome would have been tragically different. By the way, dear taxpayer, the cost to you and me for losses incurred in this drone accident is estimated by sources to be from as "little" as $46 million, to as high as $126 million.
As I said, this was the first domestic drone crash of which I was aware, but it is definitely not the FIRST drone crash in the US. In fact, at least two drones have crashed here in good ol' Texas. The news of a police drone crash in Montgomery County hit the press in March of 2012, but the accident actually occurred in the Fall of 2011. Apparently the accident, which was kept "hush hush" as long as possible, happened when the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office SWAT Team was holding a practice session in a rural area several miles outside of Houston. The drone was being tested both as an aid to the SWAT operation and as a means of documenting the operation. Shortly after the drone was launched, it "lost communication" with the ground crew. The drone went into a "shut down mode" that was intended to allow the drone to land safely. Unfortunately, the drone crashed into the SWAT armored vehicle. No one was injured and the drone sustained little damage.
Another drone crashed into the back yard of a home in El Paso. The homeowner called police. Suddenly homeland security was involved, then the US military. The drone, it turned out, belonged to the Mexican Army. Why was a Mexican drone, controlled by a Mexican flight crew, flying over El Paso anyway? But I digress... The drone in question was a smaller UAV, about the size of a remote-controlled hobby airplane. While this drone probably would not have caused an airplane crash if it had flown over the nearby El Paso International Airport, it could very easily have killed someone had it struck a pedestrian. With very little fanfare, the drone was later returned to the Mexican government.
This news story appears in the El Paso Times:
http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_16886479
Actually, NO, it does not. When you follow the link you will find that the story is "no longer available." Coincidence? It is interesting that many other stories from the same issue ARE available.
It turns out that the people of Alamogordo, New Mexico are also quite familiar with UAV crashes. According to information provided by the Public Information Office of the United States Air Force 49th Wing, NINE drones have crashed since September of 2009. The Air Force communications officer insisted that all the crashes occurred on Holloman Air Force Base property, and that no private property was damaged, and no people were injured. As the residents of Alamogordo and the surrounding area go about their business, I wonder if they harbor at least some fear that someday a drone might come crashing down on them. It seems obvious that there are many "bugs" that need to be worked out in the military's drone program before these dangerous machines can be safely unleashed in public air space. Oops, oh yeah, the drones are ALREADY flying around our public air space.
According to the "drone watch" sources available on the Internet, the US Military has spent as much as $1.6 billion to date on the various drone programs. I think this figure is very conservative. If one computes the cost per drone and plugs in the number of drones KNOWN to be in operation, the cost easily outstrips the nearly two billion dollar figure. But regardless of the outrageous cost of the United States drone initiative, the true cost is seen in the increased possibility of needless but tragic loss of human life should a drone crash into a crowded commercial jet or fall onto a crowded shopping center, and the loss of our freedom from unreasonable surveillance by whomever is operating a given drone.
http://dronewarsuk.wordpress.com/drone-crash-database/
As you can see from the information at this site, the United States is flying drones over several sovereign nations IN ADDITION to the two nations with which we are "at war" at the moment. Other militaries have lost drones as well. Incidentally, it is quite possible that Al Quaida now has at least one US drone as result of a drone crash.
I hope that you will join me urging our lawmakers to create legislation that is very restrictive concerning both the numbers of drones in use in US air space, and concerning the legal uses of drones. Although I am not for a lot of government control of free commerce, I would like to see very restrictive legislation concerning the use of drones in the private, corporate sectors as well. Drones, regardless of whether military or civilian in nature, have proven to be dangerous to the public due to the fairly regular frequency with which they crash. On top of that, computer hackers will inevitably break into drone controller systems, either to "have fun" with the drones, or to commit sinister acts of terror against the public. There is legitimate reason for very limited use of drones in military missions. There is also a legitimate use of drones for VERY LIMITED law enforcement purposes, all of which can be accomplished with the use of standard search warrants, or that falls within STRICT limits during emergency situations where a warrant cannot be obtained in time for the situation to be resolved.
Drones (UAV) are in use over our heads now, keeping an eye on you and me, the People, even though we have done nothing that can be construed as probable cause to search and surveil us. Our (US Military and CIA) drones are also flying over the sovereign territory of other nations with whom we are not engaged in war. Our drones are poised to rain down death on at least two continents and over the oceans. I can only believe it is just a matter of time until we read of United States citizens being killed by US drones right here in the United States. I can only believe that we as citizens will become subjects of secret monitoring by local police and by federal agencies both without reasonable suspicion and without our knowledge of such surveillance.
But, it is not completely too late. I also believe if we constantly and loudly demand of our lawmakers an end to the national drone program, AND an end to the use of drones to violate national air space of nations with whom we are not at war, we can convince Congress to cut the purse strings for these programs. I certainly hope we can unite and demand an end to the use of UAVs to commit murder against our citizens and against foreign citizens as well. In the case of the use of drones to eliminate LEGALLY DESIGNATED military targets, I realize that there is, unfortunately, a place for drones so that our servicemen do not face unnecessary danger. Again though, I believe that drones in these situations should only be used against military targets with whom we are at war. Drones have a place in military and in law enforcement. But it is our duty as citizens to demand that drones be used within these two limited functions, and it is our duty to turn out those lawmakers who refuse to protect us from the consequences unlimited and unwarranted use of drones both here and around the world.
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