Risk Management - Robotic UAV Aircraft Sharing the Airspace?

Risk Management - Robotic UAV Aircraft Sharing the Airspace?

Someday in your lifetime, you will most likely fly on an airliner without a pilot, and for sure during your lifetime the piloted aircraft you are in will be sharing the same airspace with a robotic unmanned aerial system, or UAS, or UAV. Scared yet? Well, you probably shouldn't be, but I bet there are many aviation sector risk management professionals who are right now, I know I would be.

In fact, there was an interesting bill which just got passed in the House of Representatives in Washington DC which would allow the FAA to approve UAV testing areas, and these same areas would also have manned or piloted aircraft in them. One of the first ones is scheduled to be in Dayton OH, and another one in Maryland, also slated are Utah, and California as well. Why you ask? Easy, it is estimated that unmanned robotic aircraft industry is set to become a 15 Billion Dollar industry, and these companies need places to test their aircraft.

There was an interesting article the other day on this topic in the Dayton OH BizJournal titled; "House Passes FAA Bill UAV Testing Sites" posted on April 4, 2011. A fellow think tanker, Troy Laclaire and I were debating this issue after reading the article. He stated; "I guess, I will be watching for the first UAV/Manned collision."

Yes, and it is sure to make a big media splash, obviously the media will be all over it. And the humanists will say "see we told you" meanwhile not mention that 42,000 people die per year in cars. Troy also agrees and noted; That's the way it usually goes, we are seeing something similar in regards to nuclear energy now due to what happened in Japan. They are saying how bad nuclear is, however during the time this was going on, many people died in coal mines, then have died due to direct causes of nuclear energy production.

Well, I cannot disagree with that. He's right, and it turns out more people have died in Hydro-electric plants that have failed than in Nuclear Plants. Troy stated; "And yet, these do not get the press footage that a nuclear disaster does."

Yes, sometimes they do, but Nuclear is such a "Fear Factor" and it sells newspapers, after all Charlie Sheen was dominating the news and it took one of the World's Largest Earthquakes of our time + a Nuclear Meltdown to unseat him in the media from the prior week.

Nevertheless, as an aviator myself and coming from an aviation family, you know what, I am not so concerned over all this. I've been expecting it all for quite a while. I guess this topic is kind of old to me, as my grandfather was the youngest FAA man at the time he was put in charge of an International Airport at Fresno CA and spent his time running the control tower and airport. Sometimes, I feel over qualified to discuss all this now days.

But, the future is coming fast now. And soon, yes in your lifetime you may be a flying passenger in a robotic aircraft. So, please consider all this, but the jury is still out which is safer from a risk management perspective.