This will open the floodgates for numerous counts of backlash and a reversal of such embarrassing issues for the FAA.
They cant have it both ways...... Well actually they can and have..... - Only in America.
I think the implications will rattle a few cages and this is far from over....
But from what I can see its based on the fact that he was actually being paid.... not a hobbiest.
Simple definitions required.
The FAA's model aircraft guidelines, meanwhile, suggest that any flight over 400 feet by a drone is unsafe and potentially illegal.
The NTSB's latest ruling, meaning that the FAA can fine you $10,000 for flying one anywhere, for any purpose. And the fact that "any device that is used for flight" can be considered an aircraft seems to suggest that even tiny toy aircraft are subject to the FAA's whim.
What is "used for flight"? Used to fly what - passengers? or used to fly?, used as a flying machine?
Flight = the action or process of flying through the air.
Flying = moving or able to move through the air with wings.
Aircraft =
an aeroplane, helicopter, or other machine capable of flight.
definition of model aircraft is consistent with the FAA’s existing definition of aircraft as “any contrivance invented, used, or designed to navigate, or fly in, the air.” 49 U.S.C. 40102; see also 14 C.F.R. 1.1. Although model aircraft may take many forms, at a base level model aircraft are clearly “invented, used, or designed” to fly in the air. Id. Section 336 also prohibits the FAA from promulgating “any rule or regulation regarding a model aircraft, or an aircraft being developed as a model aircraft” if the following statutory requirements are met: • the aircraft is flown strictly for hobby or recreational use; • the aircraft is operated in accordance with a community-based set of safety guidelines and within the programming of a nationwide community-based organization; • the aircraft is limited to not more than 55 pounds unless otherwise certified through a design, construction, inspection, flight test, and operational safety program administered by a community-based organization; • the aircraft is operated in a manner that does not interfere with and gives way to any manned aircraft; and • when flown within 5 miles of an airport, the operator of the aircraft provides the airport operator and the airport air traffic control tower … with prior notice of the operation…. P.L. 112-95, section 336(a)(1)-(5). Thus, based on the language of the statute, we conclude that aircraft that meet the statutory definition and operational requirements, as described above, would be exempt 7 from future FAA rulemaking action specifically regarding model aircraft. Model aircraft that do not meet these statutory requirements are nonetheless unmanned aircraft, and as such, are subject to all existing FAA regulations, as well as future rulemaking action, and the FAA intends to apply its regulations to such unmanned aircraft.
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