Do you know how many drones are flying above you?
Jun 2, 2016, 5:39 AM | Updated: 5:43 am
Drones are an emerging market and hobby and Seattle is no exception.
There are currently 1,355 hobby class drones in Seattle that are registered with the FAA, the Capitol Hill Blog reports.
Related: A teenager flies a drone armed with a gun. What could go wrong?
The blog dove into the data, and mapped which local communities have the most drones, and discovered a few other details.
• There are 1,355 registered hobby class drones in Seattle, ranking it 18th in the nation of cities with the most drones (Houston has the most with 3,057).
• Seattle ranks 28th when it comes to industrial drones — there are 27 locally.
• The Redmond community has the most hobby drones outside of Seattle with 229; followed by Kirkland with 139.
The FAA reports that there were a total of 31 incidents reported to the agency during 2015 (the 2016 data is not yet available). That includes 19 reports around Seattle; two in Everett; two in Renton; and two in Tacoma.
Most reports in Seattle involve drones flying close enough to make airplane pilots nervous. FAA guidelines for drones state that none should be flown within 5 miles of an airport — such as the King County International Airport aka Boeing Field. The FAA also warns against flying drones around stadiums, and above 400 feet. Some reports in the Seattle area note drones at heights of 5,000 feet or more.
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