The Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) annual safety awareness campaign, Drone Safety Day, will take place on April 25, 2026. This annual outreach initiative focuses on promoting safe and responsible operation of unmanned aircraft and increasing public awareness of airspace rules. The Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) has supported these safe […]
Continue readingAuthor: Lucas Rodden
FAA UAS Violation Policy Updates
On April 16, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced a new initiative intended to accelerate enforcement actions involving certain drone violations. The program, titled the Drone Expedited and Targeted Enforcement Response (DETER) program, was introduced in a brief press release on the FAA’s website, as well as a statement from William McKenna, the FAA’s Chief […]
Continue readingNational Security NOTAM 6/3366
On April 16 2025, the FAA issued an updated national security advisory (NOTAM FDC 6/3366) that affects unmanned aircraft operations in proximity to certain sensitive federal facilities. Previous national security NOTAM, FDC 6/4375, focused on the same items of concern but used more restrictive language. This was briefly replaced on April 15, 2026, with FDC 6/2824, before the current FDC 6/3366 went into effect. Under the […]
Continue readingCustoms and Border Protection: Commercial Importer Refund process
On April 15, United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) released information regarding the process for duty refunds for commercial importers. These processes are starting to be implemented following a court order which overturned certain tariffs throughout 2025 that are paid under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. This procedure […]
Continue readingAMA Advocacy: H.R. 6460 passes U.S. House of Representatives
On Tuesday, March 24, H.R. 6460, a bill championed by AMA that will simplify altitude extensions and airspace permissions, has passed the U.S. House of Representatives and will move forward in the legislative process. H.R. 6460 was previously introduced in December 2025 on AMA’s behalf by Reps. Tracy Mann (R-Kansas, […]
Continue readingSuper Bowl LX Flight Restrictions
In preparation for the upcoming Super Bowl LX on February 8, the FAA has issued a series of flight restrictions and guidelines for both unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) as well as full-scale operations. These restrictions will increase in the days leading up to the event and can be viewed at […]
Continue readingFAA UAS Survey
Over the past month, many recreational fliers have received an FAA survey requesting feedback on items such as communication preferences and flight habits pertaining to Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). AMA can confirm that this is a legitimate email survey, which the FAA’s website covers here. The FAA has employed a […]
Continue readingU.S. Senate Tribute to Rich Hanson
In honor of the retirement of AMA’s former president, Rich Hanson, in November 2025, Senator Todd Young (IN) entered a tribute into the record of the United States Senate. Senator Young has long been a supporter and advocate for AMA since Rich began our current advocacy efforts on behalf of the AMA community. We would like to extend […]
Continue readingFCC Decision Update – DA 26-22
On January 7, the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) released Disciplenary Action (DA) 26-22, which removes certain Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) and UAS critical components from the FCC’s Covered List of technologies banned for import and use. This comes after the FCC’s decision on December 21, 2025, which placed the entire […]
Continue readingFCC Foreign UAS & UAS Component Decision
On Monday, December 22, 2025, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released DA 25-1086, stating the addition of all uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) and UAS components produced by foreign entities onto the list of items banned for posing an “unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States or the security and safety of United States persons.” This concerning news reached AMA and other airspace stakeholders quickly after its release. It appears […]
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