FAA chief: Drones ‘inherently different’

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) chief Michael Huerta said on Thursday that drones were “inherently different” to fly than commercial airplanes.

Speaking to the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA), Huerta said the FAA’s consideration of increasing the use of non-military drones was not as simple as clearing them to fly in the same way the agency approves airplanes.

{mosads}“Unmanned aircraft are inherently different from manned aircraft,” Huerta told the group. “They run a very wide range, with a number of different physical and operational characteristics. Some are the size of a fist, and fly at low altitudes. Others have glider-like bodies with the wing span of a 737 and can fly above 60,000 feet.

“Many can fly longer and hover longer than manned aircraft,” Huerta continued. “They are also lighter and slower than traditional aircraft and have more lift and not as much drag. What unites them all is that the pilot is on the ground and not on board the aircraft.”

Congress has ordered the FAA to test whether non-military drones can be flown in the U.S. without negatively affecting the commercial airline system.

The technology is being sought by police and other law enforcement groups, but it has drawn criticism from privacy advocates who raised concerns about increased surveillance.

Huerta told the aerospace group that integrating drones with commercial flights required a delicate balancing act.

“In moving forward, we recognize that the expanded use of unmanned aircraft presents great opportunities, but it’s also true that integrating these aircraft presents significant challenges,” he said.

“There are operational issues that we need to address, such as pilot training,” Huerta continued. “We also need to make sure that unmanned aircraft sense and avoid other aircraft, and that they operate safely if they lose the link to their pilot. This is why developing more test data is so important.”

Huerta said that the FAA was planning to select six sites to test the operation of drones alongside commercial flights by the end of the year.

He touted a “roadmap” for the drone study that was released by the agency on Thursday requiring any potential test sites to have a plan to protect the privacy of nearby citizens. 

“This policy requires operators to comply with all local, state and federal laws concerning privacy and civil liberties,” Huerta said. “We’re requiring the test site operators to create a privacy policy that is available to the public. And they must require anyone operating unmanned aircraft at the test sites to have a written plan for how they will use and retain any test data acquired.”

The FAA chief added that other federal agencies were also working to make sure that increased drone use does not infringe on anyone’s privacy.

“On a broader level, agencies across the government are coming together to work on privacy issues that may arise with the increasing use of unmanned aircraft beyond these test sites,” Huerta said.

He also warned the aerospace industry that the FAA’s regulations of non-military drones would change regularly.

“Our airspace system is not static,” Huerta said. “And it’s important for industry to understand that unmanned operations will evolve over time.”