Unmanned Aircraft in the National Airspace System

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Unmanned Aircraft in the National Airspace System

• The Certification Path

EASA UAS Workshop

Doug Davis, Manager, UAPO
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Topics

• Do No Harm
• Access Today
• Access Tomorrow

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Do No Harm

• UAS Must not degrade the current level of safety
• UAS must be treated like aircraft, thats what
  they are
• Collision between Manned/Unmanned must be avoided

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Access Today Non-Segregated Airspace

• Certificates of Authorization/Waiver
• State or Public Aircraft only
• Over 100 issued annually
• Experimental Airworthiness Certificates
• Over 17 Issued
• 8 in the queue
• Draft Experimental Policy being finalized
• FAA/DoD Memorandum of Agreement
• Allows access 20 lbs and under in Class G
• Over DoD owned/leased property

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New Mexico State Univ Cooperative Research and
Development Agreement

• Creates the first UAS Flight Test Center
• Why NMSU?
• Experience with UAS
• Foundational SOPs in place and exercised
• Ability to collect and process significant data
• Solid and credible safety record
• Over 8 years operational experience
• Experienced UAS personnel
• Location
• Its not the end of the world, but you can see
  it from there..
• Very sparsely populated
• Low density Air Traffic
• Climate is favorable
• In coordination, expect to be finalized any day
• FAA gets data, data, data

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Southwest New Mexico Airspace

• NMSU/PSL COA gt12,000 sq mi
• Significant airspace access
• Adjacent to WSMR

Call Up Areas

Stallion AAF
Call Up Areas
WSMR

Holloman AFB
NMSU/PSL COA
Condron AAF

Las Cruces Airport

McGregor Range

Biggs AAF
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FAA/DoD Joint UAS Lab

• FAA Technical Center engaged
• Establishing a Joint UAS lab at the FAA Tech
  Center
• Funding initially from DoD ATO
• Proposed modeling and simulation
• Involving ATO/JPDO/NGATS
• FAA soliciting industry for potential
  partnerships
• Opportunity to share technical development
  information

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Access Tomorrow

• Small UAS Rulemaking
• Pursuing a small UAS Rule (SFAR)
• Creating an Advisory Rulemaking Committee
• Completing a safety analysis on potential
• Size
• Speed
• Location
• Will probably start out very conservative
• Potentially Nontraditional Certification Approach
• Web-based, self-certification
• Frequency Spectrum Issues in densely populated
  areas at low altitudes are a BIG concern
• Applicants required to submit operational data
  routinely

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Access Tomorrow

• Restricted Category Guidance
• Clearly recognize unique applications
• No Type Certifications applicants seen for some
  time
• Proposals Include
• Pipeline survey
• Crop survey
• Aerial photography
• Geographical survey
• Working with an applicant

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The Future for Rules

• Part 23, 25 or what?
• Too soon to tell
• Leaning toward new part
• Build it by SFARs and the restricted
  applications
• Data, data, data

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Safety Target

• Lack of defined and experiential data cannot
  support a Safety Objective of 23.1309
• The FAA Small Airplane Directorate developed AC
  23-1309 after reviewing years of manned airplane
  accidents, operational data and based on a need
  to improve safety in aircraft certified before
  the requirements of 1309.
• Another assumption used in developing
  AC23.1309-1C was that for small airplanes the
  number and complexity of the systems where
  minimal. Reliance on the systems for safe flight
  was also minimal.
• This allowed for a reduction in the quantitative
  safety objective numbers required by 1309 that
  resulted in an overall safety improvement.
• These assumptions are not valid for used by UAS
  since the unmanned aircraft is highly reliant on
  systems for safe flight and operational aspects
  of UAS differ significantly from manned aircraft.
  
• Complex systems demand 25.1309