Today the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) filed a Petition for Review in the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit challenging the FAA\u2019s Interpretation of the Special Rule for Model Aircraft published in the Federal Register on June 25, 2014.<\/p>\n
The AMA believes that the FAA\u2019s Interpretive Rule is contrary to the text and intent of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, Public Law 112-95, and violates Congress\u2019 specific prohibition on any new rules or regulations regarding model aircraft that are operated pursuant to a community-based organization\u2019s standards. The FAA\u2019s purported interpretation effectively establishes an array of new regulations that model aircraft enthusiasts have never been subject to in the past, and poses an immediate and direct hardship on model aviation.<\/p>\n
\u201cModel aviation is a wholesome family recreational and educational activity,\u201d said AMA Executive Director Dave Mathewson. \u201cAeromodeling has been a steppingstone to careers in aviation and aerospace for many young people in this country, and AMA is concerned that the FAA\u2019s interpretation of the law will diminish our ability to continue to be the pipeline for young talent that will become the next generation of engineers this country so sorely needs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although AMA has worked cooperatively with the FAA in the past, and hopes to continue to do so, the AMA has filed its petition for review within 60 days of the issuance of the FAA interpretation, by necessity, in order to assert its legal rights.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe AMA has worked collaboratively and in good faith with the FAA\u2019s Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration Office for many years and will continue to do so as we attempt to work through our differences concerning the interpretive rule,\u201d said AMA President Bob Brown.<\/p>\n
To learn more about the AMA\u2019s advocacy efforts, and how you can help, visit: https:\/\/www.modelaircraft.org\/aboutama\/gov.aspx<\/a>.<\/p>\n