News and Commentary. The FAA Reauthorization Extension runs out this fall – and Rep. Bill Shuster has reintroduced the AIRR Act because the “21st Century AIRR Act“, the FAA Reathorization Package that requires privatization of Air Traffic Control.
Last 12 months, the AIRR Act did not cross the Senate and was finally tabled; wrangling in Congress resulted in a down-to-the-wire extension of the present authorization, legitimate till September. Now, with President Trump’s full assist for the privatization of Air Traffic Control, Shuster has revived the Act.
For these in studying the precise textual content, the drone part begins on web page 228 – however there isn’t a lot there. The authors of the “new” invoice clearly lower and paste sections from outdated paperwork, which don’t present a lot of use aside from a damning reminder of failed deadlines:
(three) DEADLINE.—The plan required below paragraph (1) shall present for the protected integration of civil unmanned plane techniques into the nationwide airspace system as quickly as practicable, however not later than September 30, 2015.
The invoice requires a danger-based mostly system of categorization, a pilot program for drone detection techniques, and a “UAS Privacy Review” – none of that are new in this model of the invoice. In an virtually humorous oversight, the brand new model nonetheless requires an analysis of the drone registration program – now dominated as illegal by a federal appeals court docket.
While previous payments have seen items of drone laws added and tweaked because the invoice passes via Congress, one part that additionally remained unchanged in this model of the invoice is the “Sense of Congress,” which doesn’t bode nicely for the drone trade.
It is the sense of Congress that—
(1) the unauthorized operation of unmanned plane close to airports presents a severe hazard to aviation security;(2) with rising regularity, pilots are report- ing close to misses with unmanned plane at low altitudes throughout crucial phases of flight, both on remaining method or shortly after takeoff;
(three) a collision between an unmanned plane and a traditional plane in flight may jeopardize the security of individuals aboard plane and on the bottom;
While there are positive to be modifications to any piece of laws, till the “sense of Congress” shifts the drone trade will nonetheless be combating an uphill battle for cheap regulation.
