Opening Keynote: Streamlining Operations
August 1, 2023 | AUVSI Advocacy
The FAA Drone Symposium – co-hosted by AUVSI and FAA – kicked off on Tuesday, August 1st in Baltimore, MD with a fireside chat between AUVSI President and CEO Brian Wynne and David Boulter, the FAA’s Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety (Acting).
The two discussed the overarching safety continuum for new entrants into the National Airspace System (NAS):
Streamlining Agricultural Operations
Last month, FAA announced changes to Part 137 UAS operations, saying that: “FAA has determined that Part 137 UAS agricultural aircraft operations present a lower risk than other certificated operations and revising the part 137 certification process would not adversely affect safety.”
Boulter expanded on FAA’s work to streamline the agricultural drone process so that operators can receive certification in days, as opposed to months or years. Part 137 operations are some of the most common exemptions because they are low-risk in rural and sparsely operated areas.
Since May 2023 and under the new process, FAA has issued 200 operator certificates and 750 exemptions to allow current exemption holders to take advantage of the new process. The Agency is continuing to clear the backlog so that operators can take advantage of the new process this growing season.
Boulter also announced that FAA has approved Pyka Pelican Spray aircraft for agricultural operations. Weighing over 1,000 pounds, it is the largest UAS the Agency has approved for these types of operations.
BVLOS Exemptions and Rulemaking
Earlier this summer, FAA published a request for comments on UAS Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations and proposed exemptions for BVLOS operations for Phoenix Air Unmanned, uAvionix, UPS Flight Forward, and Zipline. They also published an overarching notice requesting feedback from the community UAS BVLOS operations.
The request seeks comments on specific aspects of BVLOS drone operations that the concurrent exemption petitions are looking to permit, including detect and avoid, UTM, and shielded operations.
As Boulter explained during his remarks, the data collected from the notices and their operations will inform the FAA’s policy and rulemaking activities. He also stated that it is FAA’s goal to use these exemptions to signal what the Agency is planning for its final rulemaking on BVLOS.
While the Agency works toward a final BVLOS rulemaking, FAA’s goal is to template exemptions so that approvals will be streamline for operators seeking to conduct similar operations at similar risk levels. The end product will be the safe integration of drones as a transport category into the NAS.
BVLOS operations are an essential component of maximizing the value that the aviation industry generates as its economic impact expands beyond today’s operations to more personalized transportation, delivery, and other services.
Making progress on drone operational integration will spur investment into the drone industry, including manufacturing and workforce development in the United States.
The FAA’s Request for Comment is a key step forward in enabling BVLOS operations and reducing barriers for successful integration.
