Government Accountability Office (GAO) says FAA drone risk management inadequate

https://www.gao.gov/assets/700/692010.pdf

Interesting report.  From my perspective the FAA has leaned perceptibly toward the UAS advocates who basically deny or minimize risks to crewed aircraft.  "There is no record of serious injury or accidents from a UAS and crewed aircraft collision" and "most drone sightings and NMAC reported by pilots are unverified" seems to be the mantra among some apologists for drone operator misbehaviors.  GAO appears to agree... while putting it much less bluntly.

From a 121 carrier standpoint, now and then, we get reports of drones being operated in the vicinity of airports. They are seldom verified because there's very little way to link the observation back to the actual object and its user. Now and then, we have laser refraction in the cockpit. We can't always say where specifically it came from, and by the time anyone goes to check, it's gone. It's generally a re-occurrence (usually multiple) that lead to locating the issue on the ground and addressing it.

I want to say I think I've seen drones when operating private aircraft, but I can't say for certain. I didn't see anything that I would consider dangerous to my flight or that I exactly knew the location of the object. But you catch a glimpse, look back inside the aircraft, look back outside, and it's gone.

I think, sometimes, what you run into are people who are flying drones around a local airport, outside of the airport property and maybe not even adjacent, that don't realize the hazard it could pose. We have an airfield nearby that isn't too far away from an area where a lot of the local kids like to fly their drones. They don't know they're that close to the airport.

It's probably something that requires less policing and more general public awareness.