Addresses Participants At AUVSI XPONENTIAL In Dallas

The story of unmanned aircraft is a "good news story", according to FAA Administrator Michael Huerta. Speaking at AUVSI XPONENTIAL last week, Huerta said that not only is the story a good one, but one that bears repeating. "It’s a story about collaboration, it’s a story about innovation, and I think most importantly, it’s a story of a shared commitment to safety," he said.

Huerta said that after the Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Symposium held recently in Washington, D.C., he was asked what it was like to be present at the birth of a whole new sector of aviation, and a whole new industry. "I guess it’s human nature – I certainly didn’t think of that way, until the question came up – I guess it’s human nature to become so focused on the incremental stuff that we are doing day-to-day, that we forget to take stock of how far we’ve actually come in a very short period of time," Huerta said.

"But it’s true: In just a few short years, the unmanned aircraft community has evolved into a vibrant industry. It’s an incubator for ideas that are changing the way the world thinks about flying.

"It wasn’t that long ago that we were talking about how drones might be used for aerial photography or package delivery.

"Now, we’re having very intense and very real conversations about a day in the not-that-distant future when a drone taxi might lift you above the rush-hour traffic in a dense metropolitan area and make sure you get to that meeting across town on time."

Huerta said that he understands that many people in the industry want things to move faster, particularly in the area of regulations. But he has also spoken to people who think things are already going too fast. "The good news is that we continue to make a lot of progress. But, the unprecedented rate at which unmanned aircraft are evolving means we have to grapple with new and complex questions that affect a broad spectrum of the many stakeholders that we have in this industry.

"This is particularly apparent as we consider the roles of government, the roles of federal government, state and local governments, and how they should play in this space. How do we ensure that unmanned aircraft operations can occur with a minimum amount of disruption and interference, particularly when we are moving into densely populated areas?

"In 2015, we issued some preliminary guidance, but it’s an issue that is getting a lot of attention from state legislatures and in city councils all across the country.
This subject was a major focus last week during a meeting of our Drone Advisory Committee.

"Now, as FAA Administrator, I have a very clear sense of what the existing FAA authorities are, and our processes to ensure their compliance and to enforce the rules.

"But I think you would all agree we need greater clarity as to what state and local governments would like to see, and the role that they would like to play.
It’s an important question, and I think it’s extremely important that we as a community get that right."

Huerta said that later this month, the FAA will be hosting an Unmanned Aircraft Security roundtable with senior transportation and national security leaders and representatives from the drone industry. "This forum will give us an opportunity to create a mutual understanding about the government’s security concerns, and to discuss how we can collaborate with industry to address them.

"There is no question in my mind that the significant milestones we have achieved so far are because stakeholders from across government and industry have come together. They have come together to focus their energy on solving some of our most important challenges."

Huerta said that there are currently more than 820,000 operators that have registered their aircraft with the FAA. "More than 745,000 of those are hobbyists, leaving 60,000 or so that are commercial operators of unmanned aircraft," he said. "We have issued more than 43,000 Remote Pilot Certificates under Part 107, in the short time that it’s been in effect.

"At the same time, we are taking steps to make it easier and faster when it comes to processing requests for Part 107 authorizations and waivers for those of you who are seeking to capitalize on new business opportunities."

(Source: FAA transcript. Image from file)

FMI: Full Speech