The Federal Aviation Administration has found that California had the most number of reported unauthorized unmanned aircraft systems incidents among U.S. states from October 2015 to September 2016.
California accounted for 21 percent out of approximately 1,744 disclosed UAS encounters nationwide, according to a California State Threat Assessment Center joint public safety bulletin posted Nov. 4.
The bulletin stated the incidents occurred in 64 California cities and most encounters were reported in Los Angeles, Santa Ana and San Diego.
Illegal UAS flights in restricted areas affected emergency, firefighting and commercial air operations through the past year, STAC said.
FAA recorded multiple incidents wherein passenger jets at Los Angeles International Airport flew within 200 feet of drones before landing.
Florida, New York, New Jersey, Washington, Arizona, Illinois, North Carolina, Virginia and Texas also topped FAA’s list of most unauthorized UAS encounters by state.
