The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the United States of America has long struggled with the fact that US regulations – unlike in Europe – do not comprehensively authorize certain drone operations but instead grant individual exceptions (so-called waivers). The ministry responsible for transport – together with the Department of Homeland Security – intends to address this with a new proposal that would allow more space for BVLOS operations.
The first line of the proposed regulation is suggestive, indicating that the “normalization” of BVLOS operations is the goal of the document. The 731-page proposal also draws heavily from the EU regulatory experience, which has long been divided into open, special, and certificated operation categories. According to the American proposal, the so-called permitted and certificated operation categories would appear in a similar way. The latter would be a solution for UAS operators flying larger/or more drones over people.
BVLOS flights are covered by Part 108 of the proposal, which makes it a general obligation to the operators to prepare and have an operations manual approved. From a licensing perspective, a two-year operating permit (Subpart D) is required in the following cases:
(1) Package delivery
(2) Agriculture
(3) Aerial survey
(4) Civic interest
(5) Training in the operation of unmanned aircraft
(6) Demonstration
(7) Recreational activities
(8) Test flights.
Subpart E also allows for higher-risk operations for package delivery, agriculture, aerial survey, and civic interest operations, based on a certificate issued by the FAA, which – similarly to the European LUC – is valid for an indefinite period.