Wednesday, 2/5, the House Transportation subcommittee on aviation was told that the Federal Aviation Administration won’t meet its 2015 deadline for having ‘drones’ fly safely in the same space as commercial jets. Significant “technological barriers” such as the ability for unmanned aircraft to ‘sense and avoid’ other aircraft were cited as the reason for the delay.
In the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, Congress mandated the safe integration of civil unmanned aircraft systems into the national airspace system (NAS) as soon as practical, but no later than September 30, 2015. However, FAA Administrator Michael Huerta has stated that unmanned aircraft will be gradually phased into the national airspace over time. Proposed rules to allow small UAS (≤55) to operate in the NAS are expected to be released for public comment later this year. Whether or not even small commercial and public use unmanned aircraft are integrated into the national airspace by the 2015 deadline is questionable.
Click the link below and read the complete story reported by Bart Jansen of USA Today…
Watchdogs: FAA won’t meet 2015 deadline for drone safety
Rich Hanson
AMA Government and Regulatory Affairs
I can’t see a problem with sense and avoid at 60 to 100 ft. Why not phase in registration for limited (commercial) use by responsible people and let some of the steam out of the kettle? In the end that kind of phased in use will take the pressure off everybody including the FAA.