What the filing covers
Tamper-evident recording of drone-aircraft near-miss and strike events for regulatory, insurance, and dispute review. I filed this because an aviation event needs an account that can be examined afterward. The recorder covers drone-aircraft near misses and strikes. Tamper-evident recording makes later changes to the recorded account detectable. I focus on evidence for regulatory, insurance and dispute review after the immediate event.
Why it matters now
During a near miss, attention belongs on the immediate safety problem. A later review asks different questions about what happened. Reviewers need to examine the account and whether it has changed. Preserving evidence is a separate task from warning an aircraft or sending a deconfliction command.
A real-world example
Imagine a report that a drone came close to a crewed aircraft. People reviewing the event may have seen different portions of it. They need a recorded account to examine after the immediate danger has passed. They also need to know whether that account has been altered.
I focus on tamper evidence because the integrity of the record matters during that review. The event happens at one time; questions about it can arise later. A record that exposes subsequent changes helps reviewers distinguish the recorded account from later alterations.
Consider the different purposes of that review. A regulator examines the event through its responsibilities. An insurer examines the information relevant to an insurance question. Parties to a dispute examine the account in relation to their disagreement. All need to understand the evidence they are using before drawing conclusions from it.
Where it applies
This work applies to aviation safety review, insurance and disputes involving drone-aircraft events. It includes near misses as well as strikes. I treat the event record as a way to preserve information for those later questions.
For an operator, I would separate the immediate response from the later evidence review. The response concerns the active safety situation. The review concerns the account of what happened and the integrity of that account. Preparing for the second task matters even while the first remains urgent.
Pilot advisories communicate information during a conflict. Protected corridors address coordination around moving aircraft. Evidence recording addresses the period afterward, when people need to examine the event. My autonomous-vehicle recorder deals with a different physical setting, but the need for reviewable records is shared.
The practical focus is a recorded account that can be assessed by the people responsible for the review.
Status
U.S. provisional patent application, filed April 30, 2026; Status: Patent Pending; Sole inventor: Ross D. Blankenship.
Provisional applications establish a priority date; they are not examined.