Drones over U.S. soil still years away, despite congressional mandate.

AuthorParsons, Dan

The Federal Aviation Administration has less than a year left to meet its congressionally mandated 2015 deadline for clearing drones to fly over U.S. soil.

Though steps have been made in that direction recently, the FAA has consistently missed previous deadlines in the process to unlock a potential economic bonanza that unmanned aircraft could unleash. Given that drones cannot yet detect and avoid buildings or trees, much less other aircraft, it's unlikely Amazon will be delivering packages with quadcopters anytime soon.

As has occurred with many deadlines Congress levied on the FAA, the recent publication of the administration's unmanned aerial systems integration "roadmap" released Nov. 7 was a year late. It outlined an integration strategy that will not allow drones to fly alongside commercial aircraft until the end of the decade. The recent designation of six unmanned aerial systems test sites was to take place within 180 days of the Aug. 12, 2012 passing of the Federal Aviation Administration Modernization and Reform Act, but didn't occur for 18 months.

Many of the technologies necessary to allow drones to safely fly alongside manned, commercial aircraft are still under development, and federal policies to regulate the aircraft and certify pilots have lagged, said engineers familiar with the efforts.

Drones already are flown over the United States, but below 400 feet and within sight of the pilot. That standard, which mirrors the strictures placed on hobby aircraft, is not likely to change for years.

"Although aviation regulations have been developed generically for all aircraft, until recently these efforts were not done with UAS specifically in mind," the roadmap said. "This presents certain challenges because the underlying assumptions that existed during the previous efforts may not now fully accommodate UAS operations."

Some of the necessary regulatory clarifications are arcane, such as security requirements for certain elements of aircraft. For example, current standards require that an airplane cockpit have certain safety features, the roadmap said. But where is the "cockpit" of an unmanned aircraft?

"This presents a challenge for UAS considering that the cockpit or control station' may be located in an office building, in a vehicle or outside with no physical boundaries," the document said.

The FAA grants special permits to companies seeking to fly drones over the United States, but the process to achieve a waiver is cumbersome...

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