FAA on Drones: Later Is Better Than Never

Monday must have been one of those schizophrenic days that only a federal agency could suffer. Just as The Washington Post broke a story that the FAA had hired its own lobbyist to suggest ways of speeding up the drone flight approval process against warnings by its own safety inspectors, it was participating in the launch of new, web-based UAS education program. One step forward, two back.

The Post story quoted one ASI, Lance Nuckolls, as asking why the lobbyist hire wasn't a direct conflict of interest. After all, the agency depends on its field staff to monitor what's really going on where aircraft are actually flown and to make recommendations. Hiring a lobbyist to circumvent such efforts is problematical on the procedural level, but also because it erodes morale. The FAA e-mail chain showed the FAA is desperate to get Congress off its back in speeding up drone approvals, but that inspectors have serious concerns about some permits that have been issued, especially for the film industry. More on that in a moment.

Monday's breaking news was the agency's participation in a broad-based effort involving the Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, the Academy of Model Aeronautics and a coalition of drone groups. They've set up a website called Know Before You Fly that summarizes the simple rules that govern non-commercial operation of small UAS. The agency held a phone press conference on this on Monday to disseminate the site's launch to the general media.

While the story got reasonably good play, the FAA did a poor job of announcing it ahead of time. We only heard about it by accident and our audience is definitely part of the drone-buyer market. Furthermore, anticipating that thousands of new drones will be given as Christmas presents, the groups and the FAA wanted to launch this educational effort before Christmas. Makes sense. But the week of Christmas? Wouldn't it have been better to start this effort a month ago and refresh it with follow up stories? That way, gift buyers-parents-would know the rules going in, perhaps before making the purchase. For as good an idea as this is, the conference gave me a feeling that it was something cobbled together at the last minute which, of course, it probably was, since this seems to characterize the FAA's approach to rapidly developing UAS technology and an exploding market.

Still, better later than never. Educating the masses is always better than beating them with a cudgel and the FAA deserves some credit.During the conference, FAA administrator Michael Huerta summarized the rules: Don't fly above 400 feet, don't fly within five miles of an airport without notifying air traffic control, don't fly near crowds or people, respect privacy and don't engage in commercial use. These are perfectly sensible restrictions and the idea of Know Before You Fly is to make new drone pilots aware of them. Who could argue with the intent of such basic rules?

Actually, I can. The commercial restriction continues to be a sticking point for many operators and although Monday's participants seemed to stress that the overwhelming majority of operators play by the rules, quite a few don't. Some are just innocently ignorant, some are flat out renegades and some just ignore the commercial part. Here in town, a local real estate agent is using a multi-rotor to produce property tours and earlier this year, I talked to a Louisiana rice farmer using a drone to inspect his crops. Under FAA guidelines, both of those uses are illegal. Should the FAA enforce against them? And why? Just because they're making money? For small, light UAS guidelines, this has never made sense. It will never make sense. The FAA and the industry panel need to re-think this.

As for the FAA being at odds with its own field inspectors, there's nothing new about this. Anyone who has ever dealt with the FAA often will know that it's not just one big agency, but a bunch of little agencies that sometimes operate like independent duchies. I suspect this is true of the IRS, the EPA, the FDA and ad infinitum. Nonetheless, it's fair to ask if the reservations these inspectors have are legitimate and something we need to take seriously.

Evidently, there were concerns that the permits approved for the film industry to fly drones weighing up to 55 pounds don't provide sufficient safety margins for people on the ground. These aren't cheap DJI multi-copters, but big heavy drones toting movie grade cameras. Getting bopped by one could be a life changer or a life ender.

I've read the certificate of authorization for the one of the six film companies given permission to use camera drones. You can read it yourself here (PDF). It appears to be well thought out, requiring specific operating limitations, training and at least a private pilot certificate for the operator and an observer must be present. There are link-loss and navigation-loss contingencies and even a requirement for flight duration reserve.

Overall, my impression is that the permits are fairly restrictive. But does that add to safety or merely add the veneer of FAA speak to give that impression? I can't really judge it, so there could be risks there that I, as a pilot, just don't see. As I've said before, I'm not a nervous Nellie about the risks drones represent to manned aircraft.

Having said that, I think these COAs are a good first step and a way for the drone operators to gain operational experience. We can't expect the FAA to get this right straight out of the box. There will be surprises and probably accidents, too. That's the nature of risk associated with new technology. Let's get our panties untwisted and move forward with it.

Stop Stressing, Enjoy the Holidays

Take heart. The Dow passed 18,000 on Tuesday and the economy is growing at a 5 percent clip. Consumer confidence is higher than it has been in nine years and auto sales are booming. Gas prices continue to plummet and avgas prices are headed south, too.

I promise you that Kim Jung-Un, that laugh-a-minute Korean cut up, will not hack the new computer you're getting for Christmas. Also, you won't get bopped in the head by the drone the kid next door has under the tree. I promise.

So with all this to be joyful for, on behalf of the entire AVweb staff, I wish all of our readers the warmest holiday wishes and profound thanks for being a part of our online community.

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