Planning challenges and data requirements hindered U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) programs intended to ease the integration of drones into the National Airspace System (NAS), according to a government oversight agency that recommends adopting new performance measures to track future progress.1
The three-year Integration Pilot Program (IPP) to accelerate the safe integration of drones – also known as unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), uncrewed aircraft systems and several other terms – began in 2017, with the FAA working in cooperation with state, local and tribal governments and with industry stakeholders to develop rules to allow complex drone operations in the NAS.
The IPP ended in late 2020 and was succeeded by another initiative, known as BEYOND, to address remaining challenges.
Results of the IPP “did not fully meet industry and participant expectations, and integration challenges remain,” the U.S. Department of Transportatio…
