UAV`er - Flygerne er sinte

Airline Pilots Recommend Go-Slow Approach on Drones

by Bill Carey

 - December 10, 2014, 3:51 PM

A DJI Phantom qudcopter takes flight, however, this one is tethered. (Photo: Bill Carey)

                                                               The main union representing pilots at U.S. and Canadian airlines called                                                                    for a go-slow approach to permitting wider use of                                                                                                      unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) during a hearing before the U.S. House                                                                Transportation Committee. The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) also                                                                    wants UAS to be equipped with collision-avoidance capability and their                                                                    operators trained to an equivalent standard with manned                                                                                          aircraft pilots.               

                                                                “We must not allow pressure to rapidly integrate UAS into                                                                                          the NAS [National Airspace System] to rush a process that                                                                                        must be solely focused on safety,” ALPA president Lee Moak told the                                                                      committee on December 10. “Standards and technologies must be in                                                                      place to ensure the same high level of safety as currently                                                                                          present in theNAS before a UAS can be authorized to occupy the same                                                                    airspace as airliners or operate in areas where it might inadvertently stray                                                                into airspace used by commercial flights.”

                                                               Moak, a Delta Air Lines captain who is nearing the end of his four-year                                                                   term as ALPA’s president, testified with other subject                                                                                                 matter experts as pressure builds on the Federal Aviation Administration                                                                  to release a long-delayed notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that will                                                               establish rules for small UAS weighing up to 55 pounds. The proposed                                                                     rule is currently under “executive review,” according to the agency.                                                                           However, even if the NPRM is published by year-end, as the FAA has                                                                       promised, potentially “tens of thousands” of comments could postpone its                                                               release of a final rule until 2017 or later, said Gerald Dillingham of the                                                                     Government Accountability Office.

                                                              While numerous commercial entities, including online retailer Amazon,                                                                     want the FAA to provide easier access to the airspace for UAS, reports of                                                                 unauthorized, potentially hazardous “drone” flights are on the rise. From                                                                 June through November, there were 25 reports of near misses between                                                                   drones and manned aircraft in the U.S., many of them occurring near                                                                       large airports, The Washington Post reported last month, based on                                                                         records the FAAreleased at its request. The FAA is trying to contain the                                                                   risk by supplying educational materials to drone manufacturers and                                                                         buyers, Margaret Gilligan, the agency’s associate administrator for                                                                          Aviation Safety told the committee.

                                                             Moak brought to the hearing a DJI Phantom quadcopter he purchased                                                                    online “for a few hundred dollars,” telling the committee that “as the                                                                          marketing promised, it was ready to fly in a few minutes and I                                                                                  was flying it in my office.” The model he displayed can fly as high as 6,600                                                              feet. “That means it could easily end up in the same airspace I occupy                                                                    when I’m on approach to land at Newark or at Seattle or at any                                                                                other airport,” he said.

                                                               “It’s essential that UAS pilots are highly trained, qualified and monitored to                                                               meet the equivalent  standards of pilots who operate manned aircraft,”                                                                     said Moak. “If UAS are intended to be operated in civil airspace or could                                                                 unintentionally be flown into our airspace, airline pilots need to be                                                                           able to see them on our cockpit displays and controllers need the ability to                                                               see them on their radar scopes. UAS aircraft also need to be equipped                                                                   with collision avoidance capability.”