At first glance, the topic of this editorial might seem like someone else’s problem, since the numbers serving as the foundation for this writing are not locally based.

But it should not take long for most readers to realize that the topic is very much relevant to the six counties of the Southern Alleghenies region and to other places of this size that usually harbor a sense of security that people of large metropolitan areas oftentimes do not.

In fact, any place that is home to an airport — no matter the size — needs to pay as much attention as anyone who lives near big ones like those of New York, Washington, Chicago, Miami and Los Angeles.

What has happened at the country’s top 30 busiest airports could in fact happen at local air facilities like those with which people here are most familiar, despite federal and state laws already in effect.

The bottom line is that laws, regulations and guidelines need to be beefed up to deal with a growing problem, as well as punishments meted out to address violations, whether or not they result in suffering, death or widespread destruction.

Also part of that mission must be to beef up educational efforts aimed at making clear the do’s and don’ts, the seriousness of what is at stake and the scope of potential consequences/punishments for putting people’s well-being and lives at stake.

The issue is one of fun and entertainment that could turn deadly very quickly.

Anyone who read the Associated Press article “Drones pose increasing risk to airliners,” published in the Mirror’s April 22 edition no doubt is well aware of the basis of this editorial’s previous paragraphs.

The topic is serious stuff that never should be pooh-poohed.

According to the April 22 article, an Associated Press analysis of an aviation safety database revealed that drones last year accounted for nearly two-thirds of reported near midair collisions involving commercial passenger planes taking off and landing at the country’s top 30 busiest airports.

It is hard to fathom that there were so many people oblivious to the potential harm that irresponsible operation of a drone could produce — or were bold enough or irresponsible enough to ignore common sense.

The April 22 article stated that the two-thirds number was the highest percentage of such near misses since 2020, when air traffic decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Over the last decade, drones accounted for 51% — 122 of 240 — of reported near misses,” according to AP’s analysis.

A relevant question is how many near misses occurred due to drones at smaller airports during the same years. Keep in mind that the Federal Aviation Administration estimates Americans are operating more than a million drones for recreational and commercial purposes.

The April 22 article used the term “near misses” quite often, and air travelers and others need to know some of what those incidents entailed.

Here are two examples mentioned in the April 22 report:

– The crew of a commercial airliner, while on final approach to San Francisco’s international airport last November, spotted a drone outside the plane’s cockpit window, which ended up missing the plane’s windshield by just about 300 feet.

– Last August, a drone came within 50 feet of clipping the left wing of a passenger jet departing Newark International Airport.

Drones near airports are not someone else’s problem, and everyone must accept that.