This week, NAAA submitted comments to the FAA on two drone operators’ requests for exemptions from parts of the aviation safety regulations. Ameriflight LLC and Amazon Prime Air have submitted requests for relief from Parts 61, 91 and 135 of the federal register to allow package delivery options without meeting certain aviation safety requirements that NAAA believes are necessary to maintain the safety of the National Airspace System. The drone companies’ requests for relief are available here (Ameriflight) and here (Amazon).
NAAA does not believe there has been sufficient information furnished to determine whether these companies have provided for an equivalent level of safety. These package delivery operations are expected to be conducted Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) deliveries. The requests for relief from this broad package of regulations are not supported by the documents provided. NAAA commented against exemptions from regulations dealing with drones providing right of way to manned aircraft, abiding by minimum altitudes, equipping drones with altitude indicators, having pilot requirements, aircraft airworthiness certification and more. To read NAAA’s comments, look in the comments section for Ameriflight or Amazon.
While technologies are being developed that look promising for these and other unmanned operations to safely occur, NAAA is not aware of any testing that has been done to examine whether they work with low-flying agricultural aircraft. NAAA continues to insist on this testing being completed before unmanned BVLOS operations are allowed.
