无人机的阴暗面

    无人机可以让我们看到无法亲身观察的事物，也可以把货物递送到遥远或危险的地方。它们还可以用来救火。这固然很棒，不过问题在于它们也会妨碍其他飞机，导致人员伤亡和财产损失。

    两种极端状况在上周都发生了。上周五，第一架获得联邦航空局递送医疗用品许可的无人机顺利抵达了一个偏远的弗吉尼亚州诊所。

    而据美国有线电视新闻网和其他媒体的报道，不到24小时之后，无人机又妨碍消防队员扑救加利福尼亚州南部15号州际公路上的大火，造成了30辆汽车焚毁，一些司机弃车求生。现场的5架无人机导致消防飞机降落推迟了25分钟，耽误了紧急救援工作。

    据Slate.com报道，这是加州圣贝纳迪诺的消防队员第三次受到无人机活动的妨碍。

    类似这样的糟糕局面，是联邦航空局在许可无人机广泛使用上进展缓慢的原因之一，这也让希望使用无人机送货的亚马逊、谷歌和其他公司感到烦恼。

    到目前为止，商用无人机只可以在白天使用，飞行高度不得超过500英尺，且必须处在运营商的视野范围之内。

    不过显然，从火灾和其他一些意外状况来看，消费者们往往会不顾后果地让自己的无人机起飞。（财富中文网）

    译者：严匡正

    审校：任文科

    Drones can let us see things we otherwise could not view and deliver goods to remote or dangerous areas. They can fight fires. That’s all well and good. The downside is that they can get in the way of other aircraft and cause injury to people or damage property.

    The world saw both extremes last week. On Friday, the first FAA-approved drone delivery of medical supplies to a remote Virginia clinic took place without a hitch.

    But within 24 hours, drones aka unmanned aerial vehicles, were blamed for impeding fire fighters’ efforts to fight a wildfire that jumped Interstate 15 in southern California, burning some 30 vehicles and sending some drivers running for their lives, according to CNN and others. The presence of five drones caused the grounding of fire-fighting aircraft for about 25 minutes, delaying emergency responders.

    This was the third time that firefighters in San Bernardino county, California, were obstructed by drone activity, according to Slate.

    Snafus like these are one reason the FAA has been going slow in approving widespread drone use, much to the chagrin of Amazon AMZN 1.58% ,Google GOOG 16.05% and other companies hoping to use them for delivery.

    Thus far, commercial drones are limited to daytime flight of altitudes to 500 feet. And, they must be in the line of sight of their operators.

    But clearly, given the fire incident, and others, consumers want to fly their drones, for better or worse.