In this Nov. 3, 2015, photo, Steve Bodin, a pilot for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Air and Marine Operations at Grand Forks Air Force Base, N.D., looks over the controls and keyboards used to fly the Predator drone. (AP Photo/Dave Kolpack)
Megan Halek could be the best unmanned aircraft pilot coming out of the University of North Dakota’s highly regarded aviation program this year: She’s aced a training program and has enough air experience to fly private jets worldwide.
That won’t be enough to land her dream job, flying the Predator drone for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Though she would enthusiastically take on a job that currently falls to federal pilots who’d mostly rather be up in the air, she’s more than 1,300 hours short of the federal agency’s required actual flight time and doesn’t have the proper flying certificate.
Filed Under: Aerospace + defense
