One of the most significant aviation safety issues to emerge in the past few years is the integration into civilian airspace of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), also known as drones, remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) and unmanned aerial vehicles. Like many individuals and organizations within aviation and outside of it, we have watched with interest as the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and its regulatory counterparts around the world have struggled with how best to ensure that UAS can operate safely alongside traditionally piloted aircraft while enabling commercial, government and private operators to effectively and efficiently leverage an exciting and potentially beneficial technology.
The Foundation’s role moving forward will not be a passive one. Last fall, the Foundation was asked to join the new Unmanned Aircraft Safety Team (UAST), which was launched by FAA as a government-industry effort to gather and analyze safety and UAS operations in the nation’s ai…
