At the beginning of December, AMA participated in a safety risk management (SRM) panel at the national level, in Washington, DC, with the FAA and other stakeholders to address the 400’ altitude issue in controlled airspace. As a result of the national SRM panel, the FAA selected four AMA clubs in controlled airspace to participate in SRM panels at the local level.
The clubs were selected by the FAA because they had requested to operate at flights over 400’ AGL at their fixed site. These panels included the AMA club contacts, AMA HQ, FAA national, local Air Traffic Operations and other stakeholders. During these panels, safety data and air traffic patterns were looked at based on the location of the fixed site to the airport. Based on the analysis, mitigations were discussed to operate safely at higher altitudes. The four clubs that participated in these panels have each been granted flights over 400’ at their fixed site in controlled airspace.
Moving forward, the FAA will be working on a case by case scenario to select clubs to participate in local SRM panels to grant flights over 400’. This will be a slow, lengthy process but congress recognizes AMA’s longstanding safety record which is why the FAA has shown flexibility in working with our fixed flying sites.
If you have questions, please contact AMA Government Affairs at (765) 287-1256 or amagov@modelaircraft.org.