FAA鈥檚 big step forward: Unmanned Aircraft Systems coming to US airspace
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Given the powerful potential for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) to improve and save American lives, the country took a big step forward recently when 鈥� at an event sponsored by the (AIA) 鈥� Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator Michael Huerta released a for integrating UAS into US skies. (Here are details of the announcement.)
Ali Bahrami, Vice President for Civil Aviation at AIA, called it a 鈥渉istoric鈥� and 鈥渆xciting鈥� day unlike any in his career. The reason: The FAA roadmap lays out 鈥� with reassuring certainty 鈥� the specific steps by which US airspace will be transformed over the next several years by the integration of UAS. In addition, Administrator Huerta released a听补苍诲听 for the six US test sites that will be chosen by the end of 2013.
But the full integration won鈥檛 happen overnight. Aviation policy expert Ted Wierzbanowski explained it鈥檚 far from likely that an unmanned 747 will soon fly from New York to Los Angeles. Rather, smaller UAS vehicles will proliferate 鈥� including those used by law enforcement, firefighters, search-and-rescue squads, farmers, and weather forecasters. Small UAS, after all, are easier to operate, and they fly in places that don鈥檛 interfere with bigger aircraft. It is, he said, a strong and logical start to bringing the full potential of UAS into American skies.
