[Paper as presented at AIAA 2023 Aviation Forum; submitted for publication (not peer-reviewed)]
A preliminary analysis was conducted of 1,317 U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) sighting reports collected from the period July 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021. This set is the three most recent calendar quarters of reports recorded by FAA between November 2014 and March 2021, and represents total 11,694 reports available. The purpose of this study was to enhance basic knowledge concerning the nature and presence of drones in U.S. airspace; explore the possibility that UAP are recorded in the FAA data; and contribute towards enhanced aviation safety.
