This week, NAAA submitted comments to the FAA regarding exemption requests from two UAS operators that intend to use UAS for ag spraying.

Pyka Inc. submitted exemption requests for its P-400b Egret, a fixed-wing UAS with a maximum takeoff weight of 600 pounds. The P-400b Egret has a wingspan of 34 feet and a 450-pound payload capacity.

The other exemption request was from Moose Aye Bye LLC for its hexacopter HyLio AG-116.

Both sets of comments explained why UAS need to be held to the same standards as manned aircraft, especially when it comes to aircraft certification. NAAA wrote that UAS aircraft certification standards are needed because, while there might not be a pilot in the aircraft who is at risk during an accident, there are still individuals on the ground as well as manned aircraft in the same airspace.

NAAA wrote, in part, that UAS certification is “especially important for these aircraft that are likely carrying agri-chemicals over rural buildings, water bodies, forests, endangered species habitat, and other sensitive sites that need to be protected from leaks or an aircraft crash.… We feel strongly that this is an important consideration of environmental safety as the unintended consequence of a lesser safety standard for aircraft that are unmanned is a greater risk of accidental pesticide discharge.”

NAAA also told the FAA it recently wrote to the EPA, asking the agency to look at the efficacy and drift characteristics of UAVs, which preliminary studies have shown are far different from traditional manned fixed-wing aircraft and single rotor helicopters.