Last year the aviation world saw more drone activity then ever before. Here’s a preview of what’s in store for 2018.

Remote ID and Tracking

While NAAA has been advocating all UAVs have the ability to be remotely tracked and identified as a way to protect low-level aviators, there is a broad coalition of other groups who need to identify and track UAVs as well, such as law enforcement and other security entities. NAAA served with 76 other groups on the Remote ID and Tracking Aviation Rulemaking Committee this past summer to provide recommendations to the FAA. However, NAAA was one of 10 aviation groups that dissented from the groups final report because the report recommended exempting several types of UAVs and did not include any weight threshold.

This report is just one of many considerations the FAA will use should they implement ID and tracking requirements on UAVs which they are likely to do later this year. NAAA will continue to advocate all UAVs larger than 8 ounces are tracked and held to the same safety standards as manned aviation.  

Flights Over People

The Department of Transportation had previously wanted to begin allowing UAVs to fly over people, but the process was deferred due to safety concerns by the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security. However, there are indications the concerns have been resolved and flights over people, as well as night time operations may become standard once a remote ID policy is in place.

Drone Integration Pilot Program

In October of last year, President Trump issued a presidential memorandum directing the Department of Transportation to establish a pilot program to allow state and local governments to loosen restrictions on unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operations. The administration says the pilot program will accelerate the development of UAV technologies.

Interested local governments are in the process of submitting plans for innovative solutions to integrate UAVs into the national airspace. At least five locations will be chosen within the next year and data from the operations will be used to form strong UAV policy. The FAA has assured the operations taking place in the selected locations will conform to all current safety standards to protect manned aviation. NAAA and the Mississippi Agricultural Aviation Association has endorsed Mississippi State University’s (MSU) petition to be one of the selected entities.  This is due to their efforts analyzing ag aviation GPS data to determine a safe distance that drones should operate from low-flying manned aircraft and MSU’s commitment to research UAVs equipped with ADS-B/LATAS tracking systems and visible strobes to provide for manned aircraft safety.

Air Traffic Control for Drones

The FAA reauthorization bills that are currently pending in the House and Senate mandate the creation of an unmanned traffic management (UTM) system. The bills to reauthorize the FAA must be passed by March 30, 2018 but if this mandate is included in the final bill, don’t expect action for some time. The FAA will require a lot more data before it can create an effective UTM system. Much of this data will probably come from the drone integration pilot program.  

A New FAA Administrator