Tue, Jun 15, 2010
Washington Says Safety Concerns Still Causing Delays
From everyday law enforcement to border patrol and weather
observations, nearly everyone agrees that UAVs could be a powerful
and effective tool. But the FAA says there is still not enough data
to allow them to fly safely in the U.S.
That stance is bringing the FAA under increasing pressure to
start allowing those flights. "There is a tremendous pressure and
need to fly unmanned aircraft in (civilian) airspace," Hank
Krakowski, FAA's head of air traffic operations, told European
aviation officials recently. "We are having constant conversations
and discussions, particularly with the Department of Defense and
the Department of Homeland Security, to figure out how we can do
this safely with all these different sizes of vehicles."
Among the major safety concerns are controllers losing contact
with UAVs they are operating, and the "see and avoid" rule that is
the primary means of preventing accidents in uncontrolled airspace.
But while the FAA admits that operators like local law enforcement
agencies are frustrated that they can't use unmanned systems, it
insists that safety is the primary issue. "This isn't Afghanistan.
This isn't Iraq," Krakowski said in an interview. "This is a part
of the world that has a lot of light airplanes flying around, a lot
of business jets."
The Associated Press reports that the FAA has been working on
this issue since 2006, but it has just begun to write regulations
pertaining to unmanned systems. While DHS would be one of the
primary operators of UAVs, Homeland Security Secretary Janet
Napolitano is backing the FAA on the safety issue.
Meanwhile, Congressional delegations from border states like
Texas and Arizona have been pressuring the FAA to hurry things
along. The Senate recently passed a bill to require the FAA to come
up with a plan in a year. A House bill would give the
administration until September 30th, 2013. And Senator John Cornyn
(R-TX) is blocking the nomination of Michael Huerta as FAA deputy
administrator to keep the pressure on.
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