Comments close soon for an NPRM for sUAS operations over people and an ANPRM for safe sUAS operations. In the news, advice for drone operators near agricultural aircraft, rogue drones in China, Google’s Wing receives authority to operate in Australia, FAA close to awarding the first drone airline license, and GENIUS NY awards are announced.
In this Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM), the FAA seeks comment on whether and in what circumstances the FAA should promulgate new rulemaking to require stand-off distances, additional operating and performance restrictions, the use of UAS Traffic Management (UTM), and additional payload restrictions. The FAA also seeks comment on whether it should prescribe design requirements and require that unmanned aircraft be equipped with critical safety systems.
Under this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), operations of small unmanned aircraft over people would be allowed in certain conditions without a waiver, along with operations of small UAS at night. It would also require remote pilots in command to present their remote pilot in command certificate as well as identification to certain Federal, State, or local officials, upon request, and proposes to amend the knowledge testing requirements in the rules that apply to small UAS operations to require training every 24 calendar months.
The National Agricultural Aviation Association (NAAA) would like drone operators to be aware that agricultural aircraft aviators fly as low as 10 feet off the ground when making an application. That puts UAVs and Ag pilots in the same airspace. The NAAA has some specific recommendations for UAS operators. Local agricultural aviation operations can be identified by consulting AgAviation.org/findapplicator.
China is subject to the same type of rogue drone flights that we see elsewhere. The State Council and the Central Military Commission jointly released a draft of interim UAV rules that put drones put into five categories based on weight and speed: mini, light, small, medium and large. Mini drones are required to fly below 50 meters without permission except for airspace over and around restricted areas, airports, restricted military zones, and dangerous areas. Light drones are allowed to fly in airspace lower than 120 meters.
Jianzhen Technology Company is developing a C-UAV system with four steps: detection, recognition, following, and handling. The company explained: “The drone can be recognized on a cloud platform. We continuously follow and locate the drone, generating a real-time flight trajectory. Counter-drone devices and a drone navigation deception system will then be used to disrupt their communication....
