The Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) information on the extent of unsafe use of small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) in the national airspace system is limited. Although FAA collects data on several types of safety events involving small UAS, the accuracy and completeness of the data are questionable. Continue reading
Category Archives: Regulatory Matters
ALPA Opposes ‘Dangerous’ Remote Operations Provisions in FAA Bill
The executive board of the Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA) has come out unanimously opposed to a provision in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization bill which calls for research and development of remote alternatives to cargo pilots. Continue reading
FAA Modifies Restrictions on Drones over DoD Facilities
At the request of the Department of Defense, and Federal security and law enforcement agencies, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has been using its existing authority under Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations § 99.7 – “Special Security Instructions” – to address the potential threat posed by malicious drone operations by establishing Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) specific airspace restrictions over select, national security sensitive locations. Continue reading
Croatia Relaxes Drone Laws
Drones and companies using drones for video and photo footage has been a boom business is Croatia over the past few years. However, due to extremely tight restrictions put in place by the Croatian Civil Aviation Agency (CCAA) more and more calls have been coming from drone users to relax some of these rules. Continue reading
FAA Selects 10 Drone Programs for Testing
Accompanied by technology innovators and government leaders from across the nation, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao announced the 10 state, local and tribal governments who will conduct flight tests as part of the Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration Pilot Program. Continue reading
NASA’s Urban Air Mobility initiative
There was a time when people and goods were moved through the crowded city on the ground, restricted to the busy street surfaces by necessity and gravity. Continue reading
NASA, Uber to Explore Safety, Efficiency of Future Urban Airspace
NASA has signed a second space act agreement with Uber Technologies, Inc., to further explore concepts and technologies related to urban air mobility (UAM) to ensure a safe and efficient system for future air transportation in populated areas. Continue reading
FAA Begins Nationwide LAANC Beta Test
From Monday this week, the FAA is phasing in a nationwide beta test of the Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC) that will deploy the system incrementally at nearly 300 air traffic facilities covering approximately 500 airports. Continue reading