When television viewers saw news coverage of American medical professionals infected with Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever arriving in the U.S. for treatment, it’s doubtful many of them knew that the aircraft bringing them back from Africa were specially modified, commercially operated Gulfstream business jets.
What finally galvanized the FAA and its Cabinet-level overseer, the Department of Transportation (DOT), into implementing meaningful regulation of civil drone operations were predictions by the UAS industry that between 700,000 and 1 million small drones would be purchased as 2015 holiday gifts in the U.S.