FAA Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Update

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FAA Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Update
Presented to MAPPS 2012 Summer Conference By
Randy Willis, Acting Air Traffic Manager, FAA
UAS Integration Office Date July 12, 2012
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Overview

• FAA Role
• Reorganization UAS Integration Office
• Vision
• Perspectives
• Critical UAS Integration Issues
• Current UAS Operations
• Certificate of Waiver or Authorizations (COAs)
• Current Integration Activities
• Legislation Summary
• Test Range Selection
• A Look Ahead

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FAA Role

• FAA is a Regulator
• Must ensure the safety of operations in the
  National Airspace System
• FAA is a Service Provider
• Must preserve the efficiency of all of the
  airspace delegated to the United States

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FAA UAS Reorganization

• UAS Integration Office, AFS-80
• Establishing a division-level organization
  reporting to the Director of Flight Standards
• Single executive focal point
• James H. Jim Williams (started March 26)
• Combining former Air Traffic and Flight Standards
  UAS offices
• Unmanned Aircraft Program Office (UA PO), AFS-407
• Unmanned Aircraft Systems Group (UASG), AJV-13

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Vision Statement

• Safe, efficient, and timely integration of UAS
  into the airspace
• Safe
• Because that is the FAA Mission!
• Efficient
• FAA is committed to reduce delays and increase
  system reliability
• Timely
• FAA is dedicated to supporting this exciting new
  technology

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Perspectives on UAS Integration into the National
Airspace System (NAS)

• Today
• Accommodation
• Mid-term
• Integration into the NAS
• Long-term
• Integration into the NextGen NAS

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Who is Operating UAS in the NAS?

• Public Use Aircraft Certificate of Waiver or
  Authorization (COA)
• Department of Agriculture
• Department of Commerce
• Department of Defense
• Department of Energy
• Department of Homeland Security
• Department of Interior
• Department of Justice
• NASA
• State Universities
• Federal/State/Local Law Enforcement

• Civil Aircraft Special Airworthiness
  Certificates in the Experimental Category and
  Special Flight Permits issued coast to coast
• Raytheon
• AAI Corporation
• General Atomics
• Boeing
• Others

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Where Are UAS Operating?

• UAS are operated in most classes of airspace
• Currently, flight over populated areas has not
  been approved

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How Are UAS Being Used?

• System Development
• Operational Missions
• Training for Ops Missions
• Research
• Sensor Development Testing
• Marketing
• Border Patrol
• Firefighting
• Disaster Relief
• Search and Rescue

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Authorization Required?

• Activities completely contained in active Special
  Use Airspace (Restricted and Warning Areas)
• No FAA approval required - range rules apply
• Private recreational use
• Advisory Circular 91-57, Model Aircraft Operating
  Standards
• COA
• Only available for Public operations
• Agency determines pilot certification and
  airworthiness

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Authorization Required?

• Special Airworthiness Certificate in the
  Experimental Category and Special Flight Permits
  for production flight testing
• Only means of access currently being used by
  civil operators
• FAA determines airworthiness
• No commercial operations
• FAA Order 8130.34, Airworthiness Certification of
  Unmanned Aircraft Systems and Optionally Piloted
  Aircraft

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COA Types

• Standard
• Renewal

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Special COAs

• DoD / FAA Memorandum of Agreement
• Non-Joint Use Military Airfield
• Over Military Lands
• Disaster Relief COA
• DoD (Predator and Global Hawk)
• Customs Border Protection (Predator)
• Emergency COA
• Issued to proponent that already has a COA to
  operate in response to an emergency situation in
  another location

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Examples of Disaster/Emergency COAs

• Disaster Relief COAs
• Haitian Relief (January February 10)
• Red River Flooding (CBP) North Dakota (March
  10)
• Mississippi Canyon (Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill)
  (June 10)
• Emergency/Humanitarian COAs
• Japanese Earthquake/Tsunami (March 11)
• Red River Flooding (UND) North Dakota (March
  10)
• Oil delivery for Nome, Alaska (March 12)
• Numerous Law Enforcement

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COA Operator Statistics

• COA Applications Submitted by Proponent

• All data as of 5/31/2012

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COA Approval Statistics

• COA Applications Approved

• All data as of 5/31/2012

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Critical UAS Integration Issues

• Unmanned aircraft reliability
• Aircraft certification standards
• Control station (cockpit) layout/certification
• Pilot qualification standards
• Dedicated, protected spectrum
• Sense and avoid capability
• NextGen ground systems design
• ATC Interoperability

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Current Integration Products

• FAA Civil/Public UAS NAS Integration Roadmap (UAS
  Integration Office, AFS-80)
• Recommendations/inputs from the UAS Aviation
  Rulemaking Committee
• Projected for Summer 2012
• FAA Concept of Operations (ConOps) (FAA NextGen
  Organization)
• Projected for September 2012
• Comprehensive Plan (JPDO)
• Projected for Fall 2012

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Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 107,
Rule Small UAS

• Purpose of the regulation
• Enable small UAS to operate safely in limited
  portions of the NAS and gather data
• Focus
• Enable the widest range of activity that can be
  safely conducted within the shortest rulemaking
  timeframe
• Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to be
  released later this year

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Legislation Summary

• UAS Provisions
• FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012
• National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) 2012

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Legislation Summary

• FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012
• Enacted into law on February 14, 2012
• Subtitle B Unmanned Aircraft Systems
• Sections 331-336
• Many tasks with timelines included
• Most prominent task calls for establishment of
  six UAS test sites

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Test Range Selection Plan

• Request for Comment published in Federal Register
  on March 9, 2012
• 60 day comment period
• Webinars during comment period
• April 10th (455 participants)
• April 11th (371 participants)
• Screening Information Request (SIR)
• Selection Process
• Six sites selected, December 2012

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A Look Ahead

• Today/Ongoing
• Improve COA guidance and process
• Refine FAA Civil/Public UAS NAS Integration
  Roadmap
• Plan/oversee research and development activities
• Gather safety data!!
• Near term
• Implement advanced mitigations (Ground Based
  Sense and Avoid (GBSAA), others)
• Increase NAS access through small UAS rule
• Long term
• Reduce dependency on COAs, move towards
  integration into the NextGen environment

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UAS Integration

• SAFE!
• EFFICIENT!
• TIMELY!

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• Questions?