Another Headwind for Drones

Here’s one more regulatory obstacle to add to the list of things preventing farmers from using drones to scout their fields: You need a pilot’s license, maybe even a commercial pilot’s license. That’s how things stand under current Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations.

By now, it’s well-known that drones can’t be flown for most commercial purposes without an exemption under current FAA regulations. The requirement for a pilot’s license is less well-known. “It goes along with the ‘Special Airworthiness Certificate’ [SAC], which is the only way a ‘civil proponent’ is able to fly a UAS [unmanned aerial system] currently in the U.S. without an exemption,” says Kyle Gilbertson, Trimble UAS flight operations manager. (UAS is FAA terminology for drones. Most farmers use the term UAV, or unmanned aerial vehicle).

Regulations Are Unclear. Gilbertson closely follows FAA regulatory efforts because Trimble wants to sell its slick UX5 drone to farmers and customers in other industries. It now sells UX5s in several countries and to some exempt customers, such as public universities, in the U.S. But Trimble has to wait on FAA regulations to tap into larger U.S. markets.

Gilbertson notes that the FAA is unclear whether a pilot has to have a commercial license or only a private license to fly a UAS. A lot is unclear these days.

That may change, but it will take awhile. The FAA planned to issue proposed changes to its UAS regulations in November or December 2014. (At press time, the FAA announced it had given Trimble a similar permit.) First, the FAA will publish a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register. Then, if things proceed according to common practice, it will hold 18 months of public hearings on the matter. Only then will the FAA write final regulations. It will probably be 2016 before the fog lifts on the drone/UAS/UAV issue.

In the meantime, the movie industry has received the first—and so far the only—Section 333 Exemption from the FAA. It can fly UASs for commercial purposes as long as a person with a private pilot’s license flies them, Gilbertson says. (Trimble has applied for a similar exemption and is waiting for a response.)

Security Concerns. Homeland security concerns are among the reasons the FAA so far insists on licenses for UAS pilots. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) vets all pilot license holders, which increases the level of confidence it has that pilots are not a public safety risk.

Model airplane enthusiasts have their own exemption. Recreational users do not require SACs from the FAA or a pilot’s license. Interestingly, Gilbertson says, if a farmer uses a UAS to scout a field of crops he intends to use for himself, he falls into the recreational category and does not need an SAC. If he intends to sell those crops, he needs an SAC.

That’s one of the many peculiarities found in a new industry trying to work its way through an old bureaucracy.

To read more about the FAA’s attempts to regulate the industry, visit www.faa.gov/uas.

(BAS)

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