The Federal Aviation Administration has issued the first approval for flights of small commercial drones at night, according to lawyers for the operator, in the latest sign of how quickly U.S. regulators are moving to authorize expanded uses of unmanned aircraft. Continue reading
Category Archives: Regulatory Matters
Canada Working on UAS Regulations
In 2015, Canada released a Notice of Proposed Amendment (“NPA”), proposing a new risk-based regulatory framework for small unmanned aircraft systems (“sUAS”) that weigh less than 55 pounds (25 kg) and are operated within visual line-of-sight (“VLOS”). Although Canada and the U.S. have engaged to coordinate UAS activities and committed to establishing a mechanism to share experiences to align regulatory approaches (to the extent practical), the NPA sets forth a more complex framework for sUAS operations at various risk levels and may offer more flexibility to commercial users. The final rules are expected to be released this year.
FAA 2016 UAS Symposium Report & Huerta Speech
On April 19, 2016, FAA hosted the first day of its 2016 Unmanned Aircraft Systems Symposium. The purpose of the Symposium is to provide a forum for UAS industry and stakeholders to provide input to FAA decision-makers on topics related to UAS integration. Continue reading
Calls for Government Action Follow Heathrow UAV Incident
A lack of regulation has been blamed for a drone hitting a British Airways passenger jet, as it emerged that police have failed to investigate 40 near-misses in the past year. Calls for action to mitigate the threat to passenger aircraft from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) came from Europe’s main regional airline trade group and others following an April 17 incident at London Heathrow Airport.
NASA Preparing for Fourth Series of Flight Tests
NASA and its partners, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., Honeywell International and the RTCA Special Committee (SC)-228, are validating and advancing technologies that will assist the Federal Aviation Administration as they develop the regulations to allow integration of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) into the National Airspace System (NAS).
AUVSI Study of FAA Exemptions Published
The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) has released an interactive analysis that finds 38 types of business operations have been approved by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to fly unmanned aircraft systems commercially in the National Airspace System (NAS). According to the report that analyzed more than 3,000 FAA exemptions, aerial photography received the most, followed by real estate and aerial inspection. The report also finds that exemptions have been approved in all 50 states and Puerto Rico.
AOPA Supports Uniform UAS Regulation
AOPA and nine other aviation groups signed a letter opposing a proposed amendment to the U.S. Senate’s FAA Reauthorization Act that would do away with federal preemption in the integration of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) into the National Airspace System. Continue reading
German Authorities Struggle to Reel in Errant Drones
Drone sales are soaring in Germany, but so is the number of potentially dangerous near-miss incidents around airports. The authorities have now decided that it’s time to reel in the flying robots.