AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2014 - 22

SAFETY PILOT

The UAS conundrum

BRUCE LANDSBERG
President, AOPA Foundation

Sharing the skies safely

BRUCE LANDSBERG

has served as the
president of the
AOPA Foundation
since January 2010.

22 | AOPA PILOT August 2014

AIRCRAFT THAT FLY without a pilot on board have been
called a variety of names-some of them unprintable.
Drones, unmanned aerial systems (UAS), and unmanned
aerial vehicles (UAV) are a few. Some pilots are concerned about bringing these machines into domestic
airspace in a big way. The FAA is charged with figuring
out how to get everyone to play in the sandbox safely.
Military UAS has been a dominant player in the past
decade, performing surveillance and strike operations
in Iraq and Afghanistan. There have been a few military incidents, but not many that have been reported
to the general press. As the capabilities have expanded,
however, so has the civilian demand for what UAS can
do-often at a fraction of the cost of manned aircraft.
As with any good idea, there are those who fail to
behave responsibly, and so it is with UAS. The highestprofile incident involved a close call with a regional jet
in Tallahassee, Florida, in March. The close encounter
occurred at about 2,300 feet, five miles from the airport, and the UAS came close enough that the RJ was
inspected for damage after landing; there was none. But
the UAS pilot and aircraft were nowhere to be found.
Birds can bring down aircraft and so can a small UAS.
In May, another UAS, known as a quadcopter,
escaped from its owner and crashed into the thirtieth
floor of a St. Louis office building. This time the aircraft
did not get away unscathed, but the owner opted for
anonymity by leaving some $2,000 in aircraft and camera gear unclaimed.
There have been numerous other mishaps-some
amusing, others not so much-that punctuate the news,
but the reality is that UAS hold tremendous potential for
both good and ill. The challenge is to find the balance.
Depending on your perspective, the ability for police
to use them in tactical situations, as the military has,
is a reasonable use in my opinion. Search and rescue,
disaster reconnaissance, real estate agents, legitimate
journalists, the paparazzi, farmers, delivery services,
and voyeurs all have interest. The FAA should not be
charged with deciding the privacy issues. That's the role
of the courts and the legislative branch, and it can be
messy, but the FAA's role is operational safety-period.
The model aircraft community is understandably concerned, as is the Association for Unmanned
Vehicle Systems International (www.auvsi.org), which
represents all UAS from the smallest hummingbird to
737-sized behemoths.

In 1981 the FAA issued Advisory Circular 91-57 for
model aircraft. It's a good starting point for UAS regulation, but these voluntary guidelines are not sufficient
for UAS-especially since the vehicles are no longer
used merely for entertainment and recreation. The AC
states, Select an operating site that is of sufficient distance
from populated areas. The selected site should be away
from noise sensitive areas such as parks, schools, hospitals, churches, et cetera. Do not operate model aircraft in
the presence of spectators until the aircraft is successfully
flight tested and proven airworthy. Do not fly model aircraft higher than 400 feet above the surface. When flying
aircraft within 3 miles of an airport, notify the airport
operator, or when an air traffic facility is located at the
airport, notify the control tower, or flight service station.
Give right of way to, and avoid flying in the proximity of,
full-scale aircraft. Use observers to help if possible.
When UAS fly far away from people, either on the
ground or aloft, perhaps the regs can be more forgiving-just as we allow for new Experimental aircraft in
less dense airspace. They need to sense and avoid other
aircraft. However, clear guidance is needed whenever
a device slips the surly bonds of its handler and tears
off like an errant Labrador Retriever. Collisions with
people and other aircraft are unacceptable, and many
small UAS operators don't have the financial resources
to cover liability costs should the unthinkable occur.
Temporary flight restrictions are not a solution for
routine operations, either. AOPA says, "unmanned aircraft and their operation should be certified to the same
level of safety as piloted aircraft. Their operation in the
National Airspace System should not have a negative
impact on GA operations and should not require specially designated airspace for their operation."
The FAA, anticipating these aircraft in our airspace,
convened a working group in 2007 to study the problem
and make recommendations. It's a work in progress, and
many agree that it's way past time for some basic rules
to be published-even if they are not all-encompassing
and subject to revision as the technology changes. UAS
pose a number of problems, but they also open up some
great opportunities for GA, including better utilization
of airports, economies of scale in developing equipment
to put on manned aircraft, and a source of new pilots-
but, as always, safety comes first.
AOPA
WEB www.airsafetyinstitute.org

http://www.auvsi.org http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org

AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2014

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