“It is rare that industries come to Washington begging for more regulation. But that is how we in the unmanned systems business find ourselves with respect to small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS). A notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) has been on the shelf for years. We need to move forward before a serious accident occurs.”
John Langford is a long-time AMA member, International Programs Liaison for the National Association of Rocketry as an avid aerial rocketry enthusiasts, and founder and CEO of Aurora Flight Sciences Corp.
“We in the business are in a paradoxical situation: An airplane we operate in our jobs is essentially illegal but perfectly fine to fly in a schoolyard for fun.”
John writes regarding the “recipe for disaster” created by the void in adequate safety measures and operating standards for the operation of amateur/personal use unmanned aircraft, and the vacuum effect prompting dozens of states to promulgate their own rules impacting sUAS… “a morass that the FAA will have to untangle when it finally steps up to its leadership role”.
John’s article appeared in the October 28th issue of Aviation Week and Space Technology.
Click the link below to read the article…
FAA Stalling on Small UAS Rules
Related article…
Opinion: FAA Must Act On Rules For Small UAS
Aviation Week
Rich Hanson
AMA Government and Regulatory Affairs