By James Drew
The Northern Plains unmanned air system (UAS) test site in North Dakota wants to help the Federal Aviation Administration develop airworthiness standards so that aircraft with an experimental certificate have a clear path toward full certification for commercial operations.
Executive director Robert Becklund says the entire state will soon be open to certain unmanned aircraft operations once the FAA grants a third certificate of authorisation or waiver (COA) to his federally-designated test site.
Two-thirds of the state is already covered by two COAs, and Becklund expects an application for a third will be approved shortly.
“Anywhere north of Interstate 94 –1,200ft and below – we can fly,” he told Flightglobal this week, referring to a major highway that laterally divides the southern portion of North Dakota.
“Pretty soon the FAA is going to grant us our third COA, which is the whole bottom part of the state.”
Becklund says the COAs are tailored to regions with distinct industries like agriculture and oil and gas.
But despite soon having permission to fly almost anywhere in the region, UAS operators there are concerned that the FAA does not have a clear path toward certification of unmanned aircraft for commercial operations, stifling potential business opportunities.
Today, certain UAVs qualify for experimental airworthiness certificates, but operations are still limited to research and development.
The only alternative is to apply for a Section 333 exemption, but Becklund says an exemption to airworthiness is not a viable path to commercial operations.
“Everybody needs certification standards and processes developed so companies know that when they get an experimental certificate that there’s a path forward to get a commercial, certified aircraft,” he says. “We would love the FAA to have us help them to find those standards for industry.”
The FAA has approved 289 petitions for Section 333 exemptions and rejected 27 cases, according to the agency’s website.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
