Drones vs. Manned Aircraft: Near Misses and Air Safety
This essay examines the growing tension between unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) and manned aircraft sharing the same airspace. It traces the history of drones from early military applications in the 1850s through today's recreational and commercial uses, and defines key distinctions between manned and unmanned aircraft. The paper discusses the concepts of contested and uncontested airspace, outlines FAA regulations governing drone operations in the United States, and presents documented near-miss statistics. It also analyzes military incidents involving UAVs, including concerns about friendly fire and collateral damage. The essay concludes that universal safety standards and improved operator education are essential to preventing accidents as drone usage continues to expand.
- Introduction: Defines drones, manned aircraft, and the safety problem
- Defining Manned and Unmanned Aircraft: Distinguishes UAVs from piloted aircraft types
- History and Uses of Drones: Traces drone origins from military to civilian use
- Contested and Uncontested Airspace: Explains airspace categories and regulatory frameworks
- Recent Close Calls: Military and Civilian Contexts: Documents near misses, accidents, and collateral damage
- Conclusion: Calls for universal drone safety protocols
✍️ How to write this paper — guide, tools & examples ▾
What makes this paper effective
- Grounds abstract policy arguments in concrete statistics, such as the FAA's 1,171 near misses in the first half of 2019, giving readers tangible evidence of the problem's scale.
- Balances both military and civilian contexts, showing the full scope of drone-related risks rather than treating the issue as exclusively a hobbyist or exclusively a defense problem.
- Builds logically from definitions and history to current conflicts, making the argument accessible to readers without a technical aviation background.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper uses a problem-solution structure effectively: it establishes the historical legitimacy of drones, identifies the regulatory framework meant to govern them, and then demonstrates how gaps in operator knowledge and enforcement create real safety hazards. This progression supports the thesis that universal standards are needed without requiring the reader to accept the claim on faith.
Structure breakdown
The essay opens with an introduction that defines key terms and states the thesis. Body sections move from definitions to history, then to airspace concepts, and finally to documented incidents. The conclusion synthesizes the dangers described and calls for proactive protocol development. Each section builds on the previous one, creating a clear and cumulative argument.
Introduction
For much of the history of aviation, most aircraft have been manned aircraft. A manned aircraft refers to an aircraft that is piloted by a crew aboard the plane. A drone, or unmanned aerial vehicle, refers to an aircraft that does not have a human pilot on board (Wikipedia, 2020). While drones may seem like a relatively new concept, they actually have a long and varied history. In fact, anyone who has ever watched someone pilot a model airplane was watching an unmanned aircraft. While drones have existed for roughly as long as widely used manned aircraft, there is no question that they are becoming increasingly common. Drones are now being used for a growing range of purposes — commercial, recreational, and military — every day. This has led to drones operating in contested airspace, not just the uncontested airspace that was once their almost exclusive domain. As a result, there have been a number of close calls between manned and unmanned aircraft. Unless precautions are enacted, it is inevitable that one of these close calls will eventually result in unintended fatalities. Therefore, it seems clear that society needs to adopt universal standards for the use of drones in contested or otherwise occupied airspace.
Defining Manned and Unmanned Aircraft
While the use of drones may seem to be a recent phenomenon — given their presence in news coverage and in everything from toy advertisements to Amazon deliveries to weapons systems — unmanned aircraft have always been a significant component of the aviation industry. Understanding the difference between manned and unmanned aircraft is important to understanding how the two types of vehicles can coexist in the same airspace.
Unmanned aircraft refers to any air vehicle that operates without a human pilot on board. These vehicles are navigated through communication between a ground-based controller and the vehicle itself. They may also be known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), uncrewed aerial vehicles, or simply drones. They may be operated remotely by a human operator or ground-based pilot, they may be fully autonomous, or they may use any combination of the two types of control. In contrast, a manned aircraft is not merely an aircraft that carries humans — it is one that is controlled by a human pilot on board. Although it is not standard practice, it is entirely possible for an aircraft to carry human passengers while being operated by a remote system.
History and Uses of Drones
Many people think of the history of aviation as beginning with the Wright brothers' iconic flight. However, it is important to distinguish between different types of aircraft. For example, "hot air balloons predate airplanes by more than a century. The first successful hot air balloon flight with people on board was in Paris in 1793, while Orville and Wilbur Wright's first successful airplane flight didn't happen until 1903" (Turrell, 2019). Unmanned aircraft have been in use even longer, though the first successful military application of drones was probably not until the 1850s (Vyas, 2020). Originally, drones were created as weapons and consisted of remotely guided aerial missile deployers (Vyas, 2020).
Today, drones are used for a wide variety of applications, ranging from recreational to commercial to military. These applications include, but are not limited to, photography, surveillance, filming, search and rescue, package deliveries, monitoring climate change, and military operations. As the technology has advanced and costs have dropped, the number of drones in operation has grown dramatically, making it increasingly likely that they will share airspace with traditional manned aircraft.
Conclusion
Given that drones are becoming increasingly common in the air, it should come as no surprise that near-misses between drones and manned aircraft are increasing. In part, this is because many drones can be operated from the ground without requiring the experience or knowledge necessary to pilot a manned aircraft. This can endanger the crew aboard manned aircraft while also threatening property and anyone who might be harmed by a mid-air collision or falling debris. Therefore, it is important to quickly develop protocols designed to protect air safety while still allowing for the expansive use of drones in everyday life.
After reading this essay, readers should have a better understanding of the potential issues that arise when drones and manned aircraft share the same airspace. They should be able to explain the differences between the two types of aircraft, including describing the wide variety of vehicles classified as drones or unmanned aerial vehicles. They should also be able to discuss the many applications for drones — ranging well beyond military use to include recreational and commercial purposes — and understand why that expanding range of applications will only increase the number of drones in operation. With this foundation, readers should appreciate the complications of shared airspace and be able to describe several of the real conflicts that have already occurred between the two types of vehicles.
References
Chopra, A. "Manned vs Unmanned." SP's Aviation. August 2013. http://www.sps-aviation.com/story/?id=1278. Accessed 30 November 2020.
Federal Aviation Administration. "Unmanned Aircraft Systems." FAA.gov. 23 November 2020. https://www.faa.gov/uas/. Accessed 30 November 2020.
Turrell, B. "Up, Up, and Away: Prosser Balloon Rally." Yakima Herald. 4 November 2019. https://www.yakimaherald.com/magazine/outdoors/up-up-and-away-prosser-balloon-rally/article_cb0609ac-d661-5bf6-8eb9-93e506f88548.html. Accessed 30 November 2020.
Van Osdol, P. "Near Misses between Planes, Drones on the Increase." WTAE.com. 14 November 2018. Accessed 30 November 2020.
Vyas, K. "A Brief History of Drones: The Remote Controlled Unmanned Aerial Vehicles." Interesting Engineering. 29 June 2020. Accessed 30 November 2020.
Wikipedia Editors. "Unmanned Aerial Vehicle." Wikipedia. 27 November 2020. Accessed 30 November 2020.
Create your account
Always verify citation format against your institution’s current style guide requirements.