IAOPA Delegates Tackle Domestic UAVs

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Representatives of pilot groups in dozens of countries have resolved at a meeting last week in Canada to press their respective governments to adopt uniform standards for “sense and avoid” capabilities in unmanned aerial vehicles. AOPA has been lobbying aggressively for those standards since the FAA threw up temporary flight restrictions on the U.S.-Mexico border earlier this year to “protect” the UAVs used to catch illegal immigrants and drug smugglers. The resolution was among several passed at the International Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association general assembly in Toronto last week. UAV use has become a global threat to general aviation in recent years and delegates agreed that measures were needed to protect GA from drones — not the other way around. The meeting, which included representation from more than 30 countries, also agreed to ask the International Civil Aviation Organization (at which IAOPA has observer status) for greater cross-compatibility of pilot certificate standards between countries. Delegates were also concerned about overzealous security measures trampling on GA pilot privileges and were urged to remind their leaders of the value of GA and the need to protect airports.

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