Sir Edward K
Second Officer
United States
Offline
|
Some notes I took from the Drones / UAS Seminar aka: UAS 101
I just took the notes best I could and I can't read my writing for a couple bullet points. If I figure those out I will add them to the list.
The Federal Aviation Safety Inspector Went over Illinois FSDO (Flight Standards District Office) as who to contact with questions regarding UAS questions. Illinois is generally covered by 4 FSDO's: Chicago, Dupage (for collar counties) and SPI for the rest of Illinois except for 3 counties near St. Louis.
He stated that the FAA is dedicated and "excited" about the new technology and are trying to increase NAS (National Air Space) access for budinesses through modification of current rules for UAS, Federal, State and local laws.
He said they are now processing 333 excemptions faster than they are coming in which was not the case before. He said that you should apply for your COA and your aircraft registration at the same time you apply for the 333 excemption so you will be ready to go. But he also said (as we knew) they are working hard to get the new small UAS law (107) in place by next summer. The new law would not require a pilot's license but instead a certification earned through testing (renewed every 2 years). When this happens a lot of the 333 excemption process will be thrown out the window.
He went over the differences between the hobbiest, civil and public levels of UAS use.
He talked about how they would respond to incidents when asked or invited by the local authorities. And with that the questions started coming in from the 30 or so Police officers from different communities "how do we know when we see a UAV in operation, if the aircraft is operated in accordance with a community based set of safety guidelines and within the programming of a nationwide community-based organization? He, the inspector specified that they have determined (interpretive rules) that the only such organization meeting that criteria is the AMA.
He said in answer to questions from the Law enforcement personnel in attendence that if they have a feeling that someone is flying an aircraft in a non Model / Hobbiest method they should pull out the AMA Guidlines and go down the list. If the operator of the aircraft is not following an item on the list then they would need to provide the proper documentation (from the 333 exemptions).
He also talked about the program they have with states, locol governments and private sector called the "No Drone Zone". They get registered and if you are caught taking off, or landing at one of these places it would be the same a trespassing. He also noted that this does not mean that they cannot fly over the land but they just cannot land on it.
He was telling officers that they should be informing the public (uav operators) and not arresting them. If they are operating outside the bounds of the AMA guidlines have them show you papers or have the land and not take off again. If they refuse, he said to take pictures and video and they will start an incident report and do their own investigation to see if it was legal or not and properly imposed warning or fine.
One Airport security officer asked if there was something they could use that would shut one down if they saw it coming? He said, "no there is nothing, and he has not heard of anything other than what everone else hears on the internet about the laser cannon" and he then said "other than shooting them with your gun?.... and By the way just so you know it is illegal to shoot down ANY aircraft".
One question was asked: how is the 5 miles determined and he said "good question.....". But the consensus is that it is from the end of each and every runway.
A couple airport managers asked about the procedure to document calls related to drone use within the 5 mile radius and whether or not to file a "notem?" (I am not sure of the term or if I heard him correctly). He said he files one everytime someone calls and he says it is alright. He said it was a cover your a__ document.
Also the FAA guy said that if you call the Airport and or/ control tower and tell them where you will be flying and they say no that it is not good idea. If you fly anywasy you will be in violation and will write you up with an incident and it will be investigated. This was in the iterpretive rules along with the AMA being example of the Communitiy Organization.
So, the gist of this for hobbiest is to get hold of the guidlines for AMA. But there are a lot of the guidelines that are talking about staying behind flight lines etc. How on earth to we deal with that? I can see a officer asking me why I am not behind a line and where is the rope to keep spectators back?
I am not sure about all the AMA guidlines and how to interpret some of the. So anyone thinking about starting up a National Recognized Organization? Now would be a good time..
Edit: the part I could not remember and read notes well was State of Illinois set up Task force August 18th with its agenda finished by July 1st, 2016 to tackle, Property Rights and Privacy Issues. Task force made up from 22 different agencies / industries. See This
|
|