The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on 21 June finalised a new set of regulations to allow small unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) weighing less than 24.9kg (55lb) access after late August to a terrain-hugging pocket of the national airspace.
The approval of the newly-created Federal Aviation Regulation Part 107 opens airspace under 400ft — or 100ft below airspace reserved for manned aviation — to routine operations for a burgeoning new industry of drone-based businesses, even as concerns about safety and airspace management liner.
“With this new rule, we are taking a careful and deliberate approach that balances the need to deploy this new technology with the FAA’s mission to protect public safety,” says FAA administrator Michael Huerta. “But this is just our first step. We’re already working on additional rules that will expand the range of operations.”
The final version of Part 107 includes several deviations from the initial draft proposed in February 2015, such as lowering the age for operators by one year to 16 and lowering the maximum altitude from 500ft to 400ft.
The approved version of Part 107 also prohibits flying UAVs beyond line of sight, at night and over people, although it allows operators a process to apply for waivers to those prohibitions.
The National Business Aviation Association greeted the final version of the new rules, saying Part 107 will “provide clearly-defined operating parameters that commercial [UAV] users have sought for years”. But the lobbying organization also wants the FAA to approve safety-related updates, such as clear guidance on how to notify airports when UAV operators plan to fly in close proximity.
The approval of Part 107 replaces an ad hoc waiver process created under section 333 of an FAA re-authorisation bill in 2012. Those so-called Section 333 exemptions required UAV operators to be licensed pilots, but Part 107 eliminates that requirement. That change concerns the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), an international union for airline pilots.
“ALPA would like to see the FAA take a stronger stance in ensuring that those who commercially pilot [small UAVs] hold the same certificate as commercial-rated pilots. This will assure a standard level of aeronautical knowledge and training across all pilots operating [UAVs] commercially,” the union says.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
