MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. – Christmas is around the corner and while some are hanging stockings from their chimneys with care, others are still searching for the perfect gift for their friends and family.
This year, one of the trendy gifts is the small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS), more commonly known as a drone. A drone is a small, unmanned, remote-controlled aircraft that can also be equipped with a camera capable of taking pictures and videos.
Over the last few years, drone sales continue to rise and unfortunately, so has the probability of a drone encounter with a passenger aircraft.
According to MacDill’s Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Guidance, small unmanned aircraft systems will not originate from, cross, or overfly the installation, as defined by perimeter boundaries, fences, signs, and markings. Recreational use of sUAS on MacDill Air Force Base is strictly prohibited for both civilian and government agencies without a letter of agreement between the 6th Operations Support Squadron and the coordinating party. In the interest of safety, requests to operate unmanned aircraft within flight corridors will not be permitted.
The guidance and policy simply states that recreational use of sUAS is strictly prohibited on base, said Capt. Daniel W. Knick, the airfield operations flight commander of the 6th OSS.
According to Knick, since drones are still relatively new to hobbyists, policy changes are currently being considered to allow owners to use drones on the installation in the future.
“The MacDill Airfield Operations Flight is working with Air Mobility Command on the usage of sUAS and are looking into the possibility of developing airspace on the installation for the purposes of authorizing limited, recreational use of these devices within MacDill's airspace,” said Knick.
Until that day comes, MacDill’s airspace remains restricted to government-approved operations only.
“MacDill Air Force Base is a ‘no drone zone’,” said Capt. Sam Waterman, the operations officer for the 6th Security Forces Squadron. “Anyone who operates a drone should be at least five miles away from base.”
While the 6th SFS is the only reporting agency for illegal drone usage, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the actual federal enforcing agency. Anyone interested in purchasing a drone for the holidays or planning on giving it as a gift, can find more information on rules and regulations for flying in the area at www.faa.gov.