Assessing Collision Risks Between Drones and Manned Aircraft

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) maintains the Unmanned Aerial System Facility Maps to authorize drone flights at various altitudes based on location. However, some areas on the map permit drones to fly near manned aircraft, increasing the risk of collision. Previous research defined the recommended safe standard distance to prevent collisions between manned aircraft and drones as 2,000 feet of horizontal separation and 250 feet of vertical separation. Analytic and visual checks were performed to determine if aircraft are affected by the UAS Facility map’s inconsistencies. Flight location datasets were compared against the UAS Facility Maps drone altitude restrictions. The OpenSky Network’s historical database provided Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) data, which contains the characteristics of an aircraft’s flight (time, location, and altitude). Aircraft flight paths, the airspace accessible to drones, and the safe separation boundary were displayed with ArcGIS, a geographic information system software. The ADS-B and UAS Facility Map datasets were inputted into ArcGIS and formatted to visually determine if the airspace of drones overlaps with the safe separation boundary of the aircraft data. In addition, Python code was used to evaluate the separation distance and identify overlapping airspace occurrences computationally. The preliminary airspace information around San Jose, California, was analyzed using visual tools and scripts. The results revealed multiple occurrences of aircraft at risk of colliding with drones. The results suggest that the FAA’s drone altitude restrictions may conflict with actual flights, indicating a need to adjust the UAS Facility Map.