A Flawed FAA Drone App Risks Midair Collisions
Air ambulances across the U.S. are under increasing threat from consumer drones, and a safety app that omits some heliports isn’t helping
Early in the morning of Independence Day 2018, Laura Smith lost control of her blue Dodge pickup while towing a Cadillac on a remote stretch of Interstate 84 in Idaho and slammed into a FedEx truck traveling the opposite direction. The Cadillac then came loose and hit a Jeep, and the resulting chaos closed the freeway for five hours.
Smith and another casualty were rushed by ambulance to the small Minidoka Memorial Hospital in the nearby town of Rupert. Smith needed more care than Minidoka Memorial could provide, so hospital director Tom Murphy picked up the phone and did something he did several times every week — called for an air ambulance.
There are around 1,000 helicopter air ambulances in the United States, transporting an estimated half a million people each year. Whether providing swift assistance following major incidents or whisking patients to expert care, air ambulances provide an essential, life-saving service, especially in rural areas.
But the safety of the air ambulance network, pilots say, is being increasingly threatened by the dangerous use of…
