the faa actually will approve mr. gwynn's drones, their design and their capabilities and aproof approve them to actually go in the air before we are permitted to fly them. who can answer that? >> sir, two processes run in parallel, so that when the approval to fly the aircraft without an unworthiness certificate that's done through the certification 333 exemption process -- >> that's done on the approval of the design and capabilities is that right. >> yes, and the operations and they come in and say we want to operate it in this particular area and our air traffic organization assesses whether or not it's safe for them to operate. so they are looking for, you know, conflicts with manned aircraft. >> so this is both the faa in both cases. one is the safety of the equipment itself and then the safety of the actual instance that they want to use this specific situation. and we're -- are we having any trouble, mr. gwynn with the actual approval of the system itself? their crafts that you can bring forth for approval. am

we have the faa test sites, which are great. at the same time it's a little bit of testing in a bubble. to ask research and development companies to rapidly it's rate their technology and have to every couple months figure out a time when they can get into a test site, travel with their entire engineering team, you know did they accidentally leave the spectrum analyzer at the lab now someone has to fly home for that. it doesn't allow for very rapid innovation, which is obviously not going to let us keep up with the other countries in this world that are absolutely reaping the rewards and benefits of this technology. so you know, additionally, we must have -- we must -- testing it in test sites is not necessarily going to give us the necessary data and log flight to safely integrate these systems into the nas. so i think what can be done in the meantime, and as you'll see here, this is something i want to talk about today when it comes to very small systems, weighs just over a pound. it's actually incredibly advanced uav drone. a

the faa actually will approve mr. gynn's drones, their design and their capabilities and aproof thema approve them to actually go in the air before we are permitted to fly them. who can answer that? >> sir two processes run in parallel so that when the approval to fly the aircraft without an unworthiness certificate that's done through the certification 333 exemption process. >> that's done on the approval of the design and capabilities is that right. >> yes and the operations and they come in and say we want to operate it in this particular area and our air traffic organization assesses whether or not it's safe for them to operate. so they are looking for you know conflicts with manned aircraft. >> so this is both the faa in both cases, one is the safety of the equipment itself and then the safety of the actual instance that they want to use this specific situation. and we're -- are we having any trouble, mr. gynn with the actual approval of the simystem, their crafts that you can bring forth for approval. am i under

the faa actually will approve mr. guinns drones their design and their capables and approve them to actually go in the air before you are permitted to fly them? that? mr. guinn? mr. williams? who can answer that. >> sir the two processes run in parallel. when the approval to fly the aircraft without an air worthiness certificate that's done through the section 333 exemption process -- >> explain -- that approval is based on design of the aircraft and its capabilities. >> yes, and the operations. they come in and say, okay, we want to operate it in this particular area, and our traffic organization assesses whether or not it's safe for them to operate. so, they're looking for conflicts with manned aircraft. >> this is both faa in both cases, one is the safety of the equipment itself and then the safety of the actual instance that you -- they want to use it, the specific situation and are we having any trouble, mr. guinn, with the actual approval of the system itself meaning your craft that you can bring before -- them

so we have the faa test sites which are great. but at the same time it's a little bit of testing in a bubble. to ask research and development companies to rapidly iterate their technology and have to every couple of months figure out a time where they can get into a test site. travel with their entire engineering team. did they accidental leave the spectrum analyzer at the lab now someone has to fly home to get that. it doesn't allow for very rapid innovation which is obviously not going to let us keep up with the other countries in this world that are anbsolutely reaping the awards and benefits of this technology. additionally, we must -- testing it in test sites is not necessarily going to give us the necessary data and logged flight hours to figure out what the hurdles are. what the road blkblocks are to safety intereggrating these systems. in the meantime and you'll here here this is something that i want to talk about today when it comes to very small systems. which weighs just over a pound. it's actually an incredibly advanc

williams is manager of faa's uas integration office. as much she is responsible for coordinating faa's efforts to integrate uas into the national air space system through rule making and research and development. mr. williams has served as the director of faa's engineering services and as the director of the air traffic control communications service. he received his bachelor's keg in aerospace engineering. >> our third witness is j. john lauber. he was -- he has previously served as airbus's senior vice president of product safety. also served as a member of the transportation board. today's fourth witness is brian wynn. mr. wynn formally served as the president of the electric drive transportation association, ceo of the association for automatic identification and mobility and held a leadership role at the transportation society of america. mr. wynn received a bachelor degree from the university of scranton, a master's degree from at johns hopkins university and was a full bright scholar. testifying fifth today will be mr. colin grin

i can't let the faa's off the hook totally. in a recent interview on business insider magazine ceo of amazon jeff b. cells was asked a question about when he might possibly be delivering packages using the systems. maybe you have read that article but it highlights perhaps some of like a term overregulation in the r&d in the u.s. he answered a longer answer that i have time for but the technology is not going to be a long pole. the long pole of the regulation. so as was already talked about with a dozen or 14 approvals already for commercial uass could you explain why there may be hundreds or even thousands in other countries that have been approved and here we lag behind so to speak? >> well, i'm not sure i agree that we have lagged behind. yes, we don't have a specific rule for small unmanned aircraft but we also have the most complex there space in order to the largest number of general aviation operators in the world. it's a different regulatory and legal framework here than in some of the other countries. part of my job is

williams is manager of faa's uas integration office. she is responsible for coore nating faa's efforts to integrate uas into the national air space system through rule making and research and development. mr. williams has served as the director of faa's engineering sflss and as the director of the air traffic control communications service. he received his bachelor's keg in aerospace engineering. >> our third witness is j. john lauber. he was -- he has previous yes served abairbus's senior vice president of product safety. also served as a member of the transportation board. today's fourth witness is brian wynn. mr. wynn formally served as the president of the electric drive transportation association, ceo of the association for automatic identification and mobility and held a leadership role at the sbeg gentleman transportation mr. wynn received a bachelor degree from the university of scranton, a master's degree from at johns hopkins university and was a full bright scholar. testifying fifth today will be mr. colin grin chief revenue

the faa or congress acts to regulate them. to read the full faa statement, see a map of where these close calls occurred just go to our website, nbcbayarea.com. guys? >> that is an eye-opening investigation. thank you very much, steven. now, if you have a tip for steven or the rest of the investigative unit call 888-996 tips or send an e-mail to the unit at nbcbayarea.com. >> let's bring in jeff ranieri. >> we do have some improvements in the forecast as we head throughout the next couple of days. you'll see the sky camera network. everyone dropping off to the 50s. and also most importantly, visibility now beginning to increase across the east bay to eight miles. and throughout the south bay where the air quality has no doubt been the worst the past 11 days. we have a northerly wind building in. and that is already beginning to help us outside. so we'll take you into the tuesday forecast. we are going to see a key change in the atmosphere. as we get a look at the overall weather pattern, when you're stuck in a stagnant pattern

our senior investigative reporter stephen stock looked into faa data.and more drones are flying too close for comfort near passenger planes. >> reporter: experts believe that the numbers of these close calls between drones and airplanes are, quote, going in the wrong direction, up. and they say that jeopardizes your safety. whenever you fly. when we hear the term "drones," most of us think of these, model airplanes used for stunts by hobbyist. or these, large armed military spy planes. but consider this. this is video taken from a drone flying a medical mission in haiti. >> it's new, and a lot of people don't really know what it's about, what exactly what do they do. >> he is ceo and founder of zm interactive, a san francisco company whose entire business plan is based on the use of drones. >> you know if you fly, you must follow the rules, like anything else. they can be a great tool. they can also be really dangerous if you don't use them safely. >> reporter: and whether americans, the federal aviation administration, or congress like it or not, drone

with only a handful of exceptions granted by the faa. >> that's the main issue. you have seconds to react. >> fredrick robinson is captain for a commercial airline here. he and other pilots we talked to worry that some day a drone will bring down a commercial jet just like that flock of birds brought down u.s. airways flight 1549 over new york's hudson river. >> that's hard to spot when you're in a cockpit. >> just in the last 11 months of 2014 according to the faa, there were almost 200 sightings of drones near the flight paths of commercial aircraft in the u.s. >> yes, it does scare me. >> according to the faa, some drones have even been spotted flying thousands of feet off the ground, like the one seen by a pilot flying near burbank at 8,000 feet passing near a plane's wing. other drones are big. one was described as the size of a trash can. or another drone spotted at 4500 feet above sals lee toe. california new york and florida led the nation in these drone sightings. >> it's unacceptable. >> captain lee moak is president of the airline pilot's association.

we want an faa that is at arm's length.a is keeping the industry's interest above passenger safety then we are going to be seeing very weak and ineffective safety regulations and that's got to be a concern for anybody flying. >> joining us is craig holman. the story that we just showed craig, it mentions a key figure in the piece ral ali ali verani. retired and months later was hired as president of the aerospace administration, to advocate for more regulation in the aerospace industry. is it common to go from government regulator to lobbyist and this revolving door? >> it may be common but doesn't make it any less alarming. this is a pernicious form of influence peddling on capitol hill. what we have seen is pogue and the faa develop a very close relationship that does put a risk of passenger travel on boeing air crafts. the revolving door works two different ways, the corporation or the airline industry trying to get their friends on the faa in key positions. and that's called regulatory capture. that's the company taking

on friday the faa issued a warning to u.s. carriers that e cigarettes can pose a fire hazard in the cargo compartment of planes. earlier this month at los angeles international airport an overheated e cigarette sparked a fire in a piece of luggage in a baggage area. four months earlier at boston's logan airport an e cigarette in a passenger's bag caught fire in the cargo hold of a plane forcing an evacuation. the problem lies inthe batteries that power the electronic smoking devices. they're made with lithium ion seen here igniting in a cargo bin. the faa has already banned lithium ion cell phone and laptop batteries from checked baggage. now it's entell passengers that goes for e cigarettes as well. the problem can be compounded the faa says when people reuse and modify the e cigarettes swapping out original with after market batteries. e cigarettes are a $3 billion business in the u.s. danielle nottingham, cbs news, burbank, california. >> the faa is not banning e cigarettes from planes altogether, but it does want you to ca

senior investigative reporter looked into faa data. that more and more drones are flying too close for comfort near passenger planes. >> experts believe that the numbers of these close calls between drones and airplanes are, quote, going in the wrong direction, up. and, they say, that jeopardizes your safety whenever you fly. when we hear the term drones, most of us think of these. model airplanes used for stunts by hobbyists. or these, large, armed military spy planes. but consider this. this is video taken from a drone flying a medical mission in haiti. >> a lot of people don't really know what it's about, what exactly, you know, what they do. >> reporter: the ceo and founder of zm interactive, a san francisco company whose entire business plan is based on the use of drones. >> if you fly you must follow safety rules, like anything else. they can be great tools. they can also be dangerous if you don't use them safe. >> reporter: whether americans, federal aviation administration or congress like it or not, drones, what are technicall

if they faa follow the same exact rules as in today's law enforcement would they follow the same roles or would they be able to do different things because you know the helicopter can fly like a uaf can. they can do the things that the small uas can do so that is i think would be a question for congress as are we going to latch those rules to make it more available for the troops on the ground and the cops on the ground to use them in a different manner? >> one of the initiatives we took back in 2012 was to set up a special process called for in our reauthorization and 2012 for law enforcement and we have been working directly with individual law enforcement agencies around the country. there are some that have had success with their aircraft in its entirety for my office to continue to support law enforcement of unmanned aircraft to find ways to improve their operations. i have two individuals who do that as their full-time jobs. so we very much support finding ways for law enforcement to use unmanned aircraft safely. >> thank you. >> congress might just wanted to point out in an earl

don't expect the faa to solve this. >> the faa has one focus.late anything that flies in our airspace for its use. what we regulate for is its safety. and with this technologies that's where our focus needs to be as well. >> here we go. >> and along with the potentially useful applications drone technology has taken selfies to a whole new level. we posed with chris anderson for our first dronie. >> i mean a selfie is really primitive right. >> i know. >> i mean really. the sky isn't falling or is? >> the sky is not falling. the sky is opening. >> smile and say chicken little. miles o'brien, the pbs newshour, berkeley california. >> woodruff: finally tonight, our "newshour shares" moment of the day. something that caught our eye that might be of interest to you too. in this case, it's a new treatment plant designed to help the developing world turn human waste into-- believe it or not-- drinkable water. it sounds unappealing to say the least, but sewage and water are huge problems. so the bill and melinda gates foundation funded a new kind of tre

>> well, after the faa grounded the aircraft because of two battery fires that happened in january 2013. had never grounded a fleet an entire fleet of new aircraft 787 in this case. will wanted to know what was going on, was something wrong with this plane? he began digging into it and finding there was a much bigger story beyond just the batteries. >> how did you get to that point? at first blush, they looked and said the batteries caught on fire, the plane is back up in the air, all's good. >> right. >> what were some of the most interesting things you found that kept you on the trail for a year with this story? >> well, about the third day into the project for myself, i joined about six months after will began doing his investigation. i met will in seattle, washington and we met with a group of employees of boeing corporation who make that aircraft. my introduction to the story. i asked them at one point would you fly on the aircraft? this is months after the airplane have been put back in the air because the battery problem is supposedly fixed. about half them said they would not. t

the faa?ce was made to have such a disproportionate impact over such a small number of people is really fundamentally unfair and unacceptable. >> reporter: have you since found out by the faa did what they did? >> no. this is still a mystery to us. >> reporter: turns out the faa can do what it wants, because it has a big backer congress. a 2012 congressional faa authorization bill fast-tracked the rollout of nextgen exempting it from environmental impact rules and public hearings. the faa declined our request for an interview. >> not the federal arrogance administration. >> reporter: steve israel says nextgen is also causing problems for people in the northeast as flight paths as jfk and laguardia airports are also changing. he wants the faa to start meeting with homeowners as it rolls out nextgen across the country through 2025. >> not asking for nextgen could be rolled back and reduced. asking for the faa to be sensitive to community concerns and ensure not just one community bears the noise

it's based off of an faa internal report. as we first reported exclusively earlier this week the internal faa report obtained by the nbc 10 investigators blames the pilot for the crash. it reveals the pilots did not enter necessary data into the plane's computer before takeoff. it also reveals the kasten took prescription drugs administered by a doctor but failed to inform the airline. the faa says the captain should not have been flying for at least another 15 hours. >> 09 feet high. >> reporter: i shared the report earlier this week with attorney and aviation expert arthur wolk. >> should that plane have left the ground given the information this this report. >> oh, no they should have never commenced the takeoff. >> it's also extraordinary in the sense that the initial reports, both official and unofficial, had linked this to a primary cause being a tire blowout which as it turns out is completely false. >> reporter: the airline tells us because of pending litigation and ongoing ntsb investigation, they are declining to co

banned them last night and today the faa recommended e cigarettes not be allowed on checked baggage. e cigarettes are considered a fire risk, ken. >> reporter: the faa says that it wants to ensure that passengers do not put e cigarettes in their checked baggage. this comes in the form of a safety alert issues to airlines. it's voluntary but it's very likely airlines will comply and ban that particular practice. it is another example if not for a different reason of the growing restrictions on this rapidly growing smoking alternative. e cigarette devices used heating elements often powered by lithium batteries. the ban by the faa is on checked baggage. >> it would have to be on an extreme situation where something was pressing on to the battery and it was on for a long period of time and it didn't have a safety mechanism to shut them off, which all of them do. >> reporter: he says some users modify their devices which the faa says was part of the concern that led to this warning. it is the latest in a series of steps taken against e cigarettes. >> we really need to make sure that we'r

the debate over drones and a stark warning from the faa ahead of tomorrow's big game. >>> from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >>> good evening. we begin tonight with grim news out of the middle east. the video surfaced within the last several hours purporting to show the beheading of another japanese hostage by one of his isis captors. the victim appears to be freelance war correspondent kenji goto. he would be the second japanese citizen to be killed by isis in just a week. in recent days his fate has been tied to that of a failed suicide bomber held by authorities in jordan. jordan is where we begin tonight. our bill neely is outside the japanese embassy in amman. >> reporter: good evening, lester. two nations united in horror here tonight. isis has already beheaded five american british and japanese hostages. kenji goto appears to be the sixth. another journalist another father another innocence in syria's war murdered it appears in cold blood. dressed for a brutal death, kenji goto behind him a man with a knife and british accen

the tsa and the faa are now investigating this case.l employee was traveling with a 22 caliber gun in his carry-on. he did not have the same security clearance privilege in new york and that's where tsa agents discovered the gun. now, atlanta's hartsfield airport has been under the microscope for security procedures following the recent incident last month where a baggage handler was accused of using his security clearance to bypass security checkpoints to smuggle guns onto multiple new york bound commercial aircraft. now, the faa has suspended this practice of allowing safety inspectors to bypass security checkpoints while it looks into this most recent incident. tsa also saying that they are taking this breach very seriously. they say that they are considering or will put into place new procedures which could include additional employee screening. >> so why should anyone be given a clearance? >> well the argument is resources really. there are so many employees, airport employees, faa investigators like this one, who go in and out of

bob we scoli, and former faa investigative, david siucci. and author of "malaysia airlines flight 370: why it disappeared and why it's a matter of time before it happens again." the searchers are having a very hard time battling battling this weather in the java sea. walk us through a procedure trying to recover most importantly these bodies all of these bodies and i know time is of the essence, and then they're grappling with all of this very difficult weather. >> yes, it is a very challenging diving and salvage operation because of the weather and the seas. the divers are standing by waiting for any break in this weather in order to get divers in the water. the ships and the sonar equipment is out there mapping out the debris fields so the divers know exactly where to launch as soon as they get any break in the weather. i understand from reports today that some of these big aitems of debris are in a little bit shallower water than what i had heard previously maybe even shallower than 100 feet. and that's good news because now the divers, e

in ivy's case, faa guidelines recommend an faa-approved child safety seat. something alease was not aware of. >> we never knew the rules. we put her on our lap for the past three plus years. >> we hope what comes out of this is united does a better job of explaining to the people what the rules are if you have a special needs child. >> united called the family and apologized. they say that's all they really wanted. >>> a bay area mother is talked about her unexpected delivery on new year's eve. allison was not due until march. the doctor gave her the okay to travel from the bay area to wisconsin, but on the flight she was feeling a little bit pain when they took off from sfo. >> i'm like, no, i think i'll be just fine. just a little back pain. i'll get me a pillow and the plane took off and about 30 minutes later my water broke. >> uh-oh. a pediatrician happened to be on board, rushed to help and the pilot made an emergency landing in salt lake city where carl william perry entered at four pounds, 6 ounces. mom and baby are doing just fine. >> was hoping it

. >> ahead, how the faa is accused of blindsiding entire communities as noise complaints soar. >> the news is back in the morning right here on "cbs this morning." >> announcer: this portion of "cbs this morning" sponsored by brookside chocolate. discover brookside. rich, dark chocolate covering soft centers. flavored with exotic fruit juices. it's chocolate and fruit flavors like you've never experienced before. discover brookside. if you have medicare part d, walgreens gets that you might be at the corner of "looking for a good deal" and "sheesh, i wish i'd looked some more." that's why walgreens makes it easy to switch your prescriptions and save money. just stop by. and leave all the legwork to us. switch your prescriptions to walgreens where you could save even more on medicare part d with copays as low as zero dollars. at the corner of happy and healthy. major: here's our new trainer ensure active heart health. heart: i maximize good stuff like my potassium and phytosterols which may help lower cholesterol. new ensure active heart health supports your heart and body so you stay

>>reporter: today, the ntsb and faa combed through site where the twin engine piper 34 went down. five family members were on the flight. the plane originated in key west florida and was bound for mount vernon illinois when it crashed in lyon county, kentucky friday. >> a seven-year-old little girl, said her parents were killed in a plane crash. >> reporter: sailor gutzler escaped with a broken wrist and other minor injuries. kentucky police lieutenant interviewed her shortly after.la >> the plane was upside down. she utilized her non-injured arm and hand to free herself fromer the aircraft. there was a small fire at the site of the crash. she contemplated taking some type of stick to possibly light that use it as a torch to illuminate her path. >> reporter: sailor navigated a difficult path. >> she navigated briers and

the faa investigators are already there. let's start off by looking at what are they going to be looking for initially? what's their first step in this investigation? >> they'll be trying to piece together pieces of the wreckage to determine what was the problem -- what was the nature of the problem he ran into. >> and i suspect obviously this girl the survivor she'll certainly be somebody that they can rely on for some important information? >> well, i don't know. i would think about most 7-year-old kids wouldn't have -- wouldn't be able to tell you very much about things technically with an airplane. she might act sort of like a voerd does on an voice recorder does on an airliner. >> tom bunn, thank you for that analysis. we want to point out the girl has been treated for injuries at a local hospital and has been released but police have not yet released her name. >>> high winds and heavy seas are again hindering the search for airasia flight 8501. despite the weather, indonesian officials said teams have located a number

he's not involved in the lawsuit but he did tell me he's troubled by the faa findings. >> should that plane have ever left the ground given the information in this report? >> oh, no they should never have commenced takeoff. >> reporter: he's also troubled by how different the faa findings are to initial reports. >> it's also extraordinary in the sense that the initial reports, both official and unofficial had linked this to a primary cause being a tire blowout, which as it turns out is completely false. >> reporter: a short time ago i spoke with the airline spokesperson. she tells me because of pending litigation and ongoing ntsb investigation, the airline cannot comment. back to you guys. >>> now your nbc 10 first alert weather. >> nbc 10 first alert weather tracking a wintry mix headed our way for the weekend. most people will see rain from this system but there is a chance for snow for some people tomorrow. good news, tonight will be dry for your friday night plans. get outside while you can. >> nbc 10 first alert meteorologist sheena parveen is here with our first alert >> that's

the faa says it's meant to keep everyone safe but what do local drone enthusiasts have to say?ap on the nbc app to find out. plus how many it philadelphians may soon have its own drone legislationp. it's an exclusive story now on the nbc 10 app. >>> now hiring the company moving into part of this area and bringing hundreds of jobs with it. plus, growing at a rapid rate. one lawmaker says charter schools are sucking resources away from regular schools and it has to stop. >>> 5:57. you could one day have coffee or lunch at this building at valley forge national park. the murray stevens house has been a landmark since 1816. the national park service wants to lease it for commercial use. one group interested in turning it into a cafe. proposals must be submitted to the park service by february 13th. >> to delaware we go a new bill could halt charter school applications in wilmington for the in extwo years. two state lawmakers proposed a bill to the general assembly yesterday and say the hold on applications will allow officials to look at all aspects of charter schools from funding

patco will later shift those cars to morning service a month or two later. >>> the faa is taking stepsing safer. officials announced new rules that require airlines to collect and analyze safety data. the goal is to spot potentially dangerous trends and help prevent accidents. according to the faa, the cause of more than 100 accidents over the past decade could have been identified beforehand if safety management systems had been in place. >>> a gamble outside the casino. the steps that atlantic city is taking to turn the city around. >>> and the family vacation that ended beneath the 18-wheeler. how long this minivan was dragged down the highway. we'll show you. wow soup people, i can't believe i'm eating bacon and rich creamy cheese before my sister's wedding. well it's only 100 calories, so you'll be ready for that dress. uh-huh...that's what i'm afraid of. you don't love the dress? i love my sister. 40 flavors. 100 calories or less. >>> new this morning, the murder of a girl from gloucester county will be the focus of a television show. investigation web of lies will feature the au

faa guidelines for drones are needed. carrie and jack are with me.ing the government to solve the problem? that always terrifies me. >> i'm much more bullish on drones. we have to own the drones because otherwise the drones will own us. faa bans commercial use of drones. he was private individual. i did this on accident. i was not causing actual threat. amazon is trying to use drones for commercial use but we're not letting them. melissa: i thought they changed rule? >> no. melissa: you could do this with special training? i thought they relaxed the rule on that? in any case what do you think about that. >> there is a market opportunity for a company to come up with a way quickly and reliably kill low altitude drones. i've seen a couple ideas from companies. melissa: there you go. >> looking a at drones killing other drones or lasers. there is real urgency for it. melissa: absolutely. that will make sense. we'll leave it there. >>> new york city dodging the worst of the blizzard but not everyone got so lucky. the chilling effect it could have on the

steven stock looked into faa data. >> good morning, guys. you know, the faa has been studying this issue for more than ten years now, and critics say that's entirely too long. these are technically called unmanned aircraft systems or uass. most people just call them drones. right now it's illegal to fly a drone for commercial purposes here in the u.s. even though, drones are flying all over the place here. in fact the faa's own data shows close calls between drones and commercial aircraft is rising quickly. between february and november of last year, the faa recorded 193 different incidents where airplane pilots reports drones flying nearby. the faa had hoped to get more rules in place by later this month, but it now appears it could be longer before any meaningful drone rules are passed. meanwhile, more and more drones fill our skies, whether they like it or not. if you want to see more on this story, watch the full version on our 6:00 newscast later tonight or just go online to nbcbayarea.com and click on the investigations unit. i'm steve

luckily this all ended without any injuries but the faa is investigating.ror? was it controller error? it's unclear at this time. meantime take a look at this amateur video. a delta air lines flight with 308 people onboard took off for atlanta bound for tokyo a few minutes into the flight the pilot declares an emergency after a pilot from another plane noticed smoke coming from the landing gear. the aircraft flew for less than 20 minutes to burn off fuel. you are looking at video of it burning off fuel at this point. it did land safely john. >> it's amazing to see that video right there. interesting that they got that message quickly. there's also something of a security concern at the airport in atlanta. one of the busiest in the world. a federal employee was arrested with a gun in his carry-on? >> right. this was an atlanta based faa inspector who used security clearance to bypass tsa and access a secure area of atlanta's hartsfield-jackson airport before boarding a flight to laguardia. the employee didn't have the same security in new york and that's whe

the faa estimates as many as 7500 commercial uavs could be flying by 2018. here we have two unmanned aircraft. the rs-16 and the rs-20. >> working with texas a&m corpus christi on their operation. while door drop delivers may be years away, loophole applications already exist. where drones will detect where fields need to be fertilized and watered, to energy grids and pipeline monitoring. >> a drone will keep a pilot from being in harm's way. these can fly for 12 to 16 hours on a gallon and a half of gasoline. >> and then some have set up shop in corpus christi what school officials hope will be a well-paying industry in a historically blue-color region. >> a lot of the economy is based on oil and gas and manufacturing. to have them bring it in brings high tech jobs and an important future not just for corpus christi but south texas. >> $260 million in south texas alone with 1200 new jobs created in the region. >> it's a huge number. especially for south texas where we haven't really seen a lot of large companies make their home base. >> and home grown start

the change has to come from regulators, from the faa. >> on some flights, we can download a movie. why don't the airlines spend the money so we know exactly where a flight is at any given moment? >> it was never in the past viewed as a very good use of resources. entertainment, netflix downloading, streaming, the technology exists. the question is not the technology. one of the concerns is the data stream itself. will it overwhelm the cost of airline operations? if something was not anticipated, it would come on and i think we would see that happening, but it is taking far too long to get that done. >> we have seen the training of pilots and air traffic control. >> the faa is on a list of eight countries not prepared for safety standards. the burgeoning middle class the desire to fly for a first, has really overwhelmed the infrastructure, as you suggest. it is not just pilots where we have a shortage. it's like the wild west of aviation in many ways. >> do we need an international safety board? >> unfortunately, international bodies move as fast as molasses. a kind of work to the l

. >> i know the faa is considering changing the rules. how are those conversations going?> they are going. the faa's mandate in the safety of the national airspace. it was designed around manned aircraft. relatively large aircraft, human pilots and passengers. what we have here is a completely different kind of problem. these are small vehicles. they can be as small as your hand. drones are now so small, flying so low and smart that they can essentially navigate the space themselves. we do not need air traffic control. we don't need to treat them like a 747. we are arguing for a sandbox. tell us what altitude, distance, weight, and speed. what zones and areas they are allowed to fly in, and then create this open spectrum, open airspace. where the technology industry can innovate with minimal regulations. >> how safe are they and how much safer are they going to be in the future? >> the safety has to do with the size. if it is the size of your hand, even if it were to fall out of the sky, it is lighter than a bird. there is an intrinsic safety to it. if it hit your house, i

the faa's mandate is the safety of the national airspace.signed around manned aircraft, relatively large aircraft, human pilots and passengers. what we have here is a completely different kind of problem. >> emily also asked chris anderson about buying parts from alibaba. >> this is where you buy wholesale parts from china and i need to buy electric motors for an autonomous blanket. -- blimp kit. 10 days later this great shows up at my doorstep. there are 5000 motors made it to my custom specs and i was stunned. i got chills that basically i had gotten robots from china to work for me and they took paypal. >> that was emily chang with 3-d robotics ceo chris anderson. don't miss the latest edition of "studio 1.0" tonight. what a difference a few years makes for dells. dell came back to win seven ces awards this week. we will show you why next. ♪ >> let's take a look at this big day for stocks, all three agencies rallying. this is the second straight gain for major stock averages and all three of them wiping out there decline in early 2015. ♪

this while the faa works to come up with drone regulations. a secret service officer posted on the south lawn heard the quad copter device flying at a low altitude before it crashed at 3:00 a.m. the white house complex locked down until the drone was examined and cleared. a group was started know before you fly campaign. >> w to be ever mindful that technology is never guilty. operators are. >> reporter: initially the secret service said the drone was not a threat. president ob in india right now. >> for me the operation represents pure bliss in terms of someone who is a hobbyist and enjoys the technology. >> reporter: the incident has many near the white house today thinking hard about the use of drones. >> only concerns i see security-wise is that being treated more like toys because anyone can buy a drone. >> amazing it's come to market with, you know when it can present such a threat without the necessary precautions ahead of time.one's operator is fully cooperating with their investigations which continues. live at the white house, kristi