DOT/FAA/AR-09/7 Unmanned Aircraft System Regulation Review Air Traffic Organization NextGen & Operations Planning Office of Research and Technology Development Washington, DC 20591 September 2009 Final Report This document is available to the U.S. public through the National Technical Information Service (NTIS), Springfield, Virginia 22161. U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration NOTICE This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Transportation in the interest of information exchange. The United States Government assumes no liability for the contents or use thereof. The United States Government does not endorse products or manufacturers. Trade or manufacturer's names appear herein solely because they are considered essential to the objective of this report. This document does not constitute FAA certification policy. Consult your local FAA aircraft certification office as to its use. This report is available at the Federal Aviation Administration William J. Hughes Technical Center’s Full-Text Technical Reports page: actlibrary.tc.faa.gov in Adobe Acrobat portable document format (PDF). Technical Report Documentation Page 1. Report No. 2. Government Accession No. 3. Recipient's Catalog No. DOT/FAA/AR-09/7 4. Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEM REGULATION REVIEW September 2009 6. Performing Organization Code 7. Author(s) 8. Performing Organization Report No. L. Kirk, D. Marshall, B. Trapnell, and G. Frushour 9. Performing Organization Name and Address 10. Work Unit No. (TRAIS) Center for General Aviation Research Embry Riddle Aeronautical University 11. Contract or Grant No. 600 S. Clyde Morris Blvd. 04-C-GA-ERAU Daytona Beach, FL 32114-3900 12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address 13. Type of Report and Period Covered U.S. Department of Transportation Final Report Federal Aviation Administration Air Traffic Organization Office of Research and Technology Development Washington, DC 20591 14. Sponsoring Agency Code AIR-160 15. Supplementary Notes This study was completed in March 2007. On February 6, 2007, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a notice in the Federal Register clarifying that an unmanned aircraft system falls in the definition of aircraft. Also, on March 13, 2008, the FAA issued Interim Operational Approval Guidance 08-01 to replace Policy Memorandum 05-01, which is referenced in this report. 16. Abstract A top-level review on the applicability of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulation (CFR) to unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) operating in the National Airspace System (NAS) was conducted under this research effort. The goal of this review was to systematically examine the relevant federal regulations, statutes, orders, and policies to identify the known issues resulting from the rapid growth of UAS technology. The review went through sections of 14 CFR to assess their applicability to UAS operating in the NAS based on their face values, i.e. not the intent of the rule, rather a direct understanding of the text. The review results were categorized into four levels: Clearly Apply, May Apply by Interpretation, Does not Apply, and Could Apply With Revision. Reviews of other relevant documents, including the Federal Aviation Administration Advisory Circulars, Technical Standard Orders, and Airman Information Manual, were also evaluated. Some of the documents were examined more closely. 17. Key Words 18. Distribution Statement Unmanned aircraft system, Regulatory review This document is available to the U.S. public through the National Technical Information Service (NTIS), Springfield, Virginia 22161. 19. Security Classif. (of this report) 20. Security Classif. (of this page) 21. No. of Pages 22. Price Unclassified Unclassified 28 Form DOT F1700.7 (8-72) Reproduction of completed page authorize TABLE OF CONTENTS Page EXECUTIVE SUMMARY vii 1. INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Objectives 1 1.2 Background 1 1.3 Investigative Team 2 2. REGULATORY REVIEW AND EVALUATION APPROACH 2 3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 3 3.1 Historical Perspective 3 3.2 Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations 4 3.3 Other U.S. Regulations and Documents 12 3.3.1 United States Code 12 3.3.2 Advisory Circulars 13 3.3.3 Aeronautical Information Manual 13 3.3.4 The FAA Orders and Policy Statements 13 3.3.5 Technical Standard Orders 15 3.3.6 Industry Documents 16 4. SUMMARY 16 APPENDIX A—RESEARCH DATA iii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1 The 14 CFR Review Summary 5 2 The 14 CFR Part 21 Review Summary 7 3 The 14 CFR Part 23 Review Summary 8 4 The 14 CFR Part 61 Review Summary 9 5 The 14 CFR Part 91 Review Summary 9 6 The 14 CFR Part 137 Review Summary 10 7 The AC Review Summary 13 8 The FAA Orders Review Summary 14 9 The TSO Review Summary 16 iv LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1 The UAS-Related Definitions Contained in 14 CFR 1.1 6 v LIST OF ACRONYMS AC Advisory Circular AFS Flight Standards Service AIM Aeronautical Information Manual CAB Civil Aeronautics Board CFR Code of Federal Regulations CGAR Center of Excellence for General Aviation Research COA Certificate or Waiver of Authorization FAA Federal Aviation Administration FR Federal Register MASPS Minimum Aviation System Performance Standard NAS National Airspace System RTCA Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics SAA See and avoid SC Special Committee TSO Technical Standard Order UA Unmanned aircraft UAS Unmanned aircraft system UAV Unmanned aerial vehicle USC United States Code vi EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A top-level review on the applicability of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulation (CFR) to unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) operating in the National Airspace System (NAS) was conducted under this research effort. The goal of this review was to systematically examine the relevant federal regulations, statutes, orders, and policies to identify the known issues resulting from the rapid growth of UAS technology. These issues include, but are not limited to, communication, control and relay stations; pilot-operator training and certification; “detect, sense and avoid” requirements; “see and avoid” regulations; manufacturing standards and certification; integration into the NAS; and international standards and operating environments. The review examined sections of 14 CFR to assess their applicability to UAS operating in the NAS based on their face values, i.e., not the intent of the rule, rather a direct understanding of the text. The review results were categorized into four levels: Clearly Applies, May Apply by Interpretation, Does not Apply, and Could Apply With Revision. The review found that 30% of 14 CFR sections were categorized as Clearly Applies to UAS operations, 16% of them were categorized as Does not Apply. The remaining 54% might be considered in the other two May or Could categories, particularly since a UAS is not explicitly defined in the 14 CFR. Due to the limitation of available resources, reviews of other relevant documents, including the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Advisory Circulars, Technical Standard Orders, and Airman Information Manual, were also evaluated. Some of the documents were examined more closely. In the total review, 33% clearly applied and 12% did not apply. The remaining 55% may have potential to apply, dependent upon the regulatory definition of a UAS. The FAA Flight Standards Service (AFS)-400 UAS Policy 05-01, while not a regulatory document, provides a definition for an unmanned aircraft (UA). It does not, however, clearly distinguish between a UA and a model aircraft. The latter, having a long history of self- regulation, fell outside the FAA’s area of interest. A Policy Statement issued February 13, 2007, cited at 72 Federal Register 6689, “Unmanned Aircraft Operations in the National Airspace System,” is intended to be a clarification of the FAA’s current policy regarding operations of UA in the NAS. The policy states, in part: “The current FAA policy for UAS operations is that no person may operate a UAS in the National Airspace System without specific authority. For UAS operating as public aircraft the authority is the COA, for UAS operating as civil aircraft the authority is special airworthiness certificates, and for model aircraft the authority is AC 91-57. The FAA recognizes that people and companies other than modelers might be flying UAS with the mistaken understanding that they are legally operating under the authority of AC 91-57. AC 91-57 only applies to modelers, and thus specifically excludes its use by persons or companies for business purposes. vii The FAA has undertaken a safety review that will examine the feasibility of creating a different category of unmanned ‘‘vehicles’’ that may be defined by the operator’s visual line of sight and are also small and slow enough to adequately mitigate hazards to other aircraft and persons on the ground. The end product of this analysis may be a new flight authorization instrument similar to AC 91-57, but focused on operations which do not qualify as sport and recreation, but also may not require a certificate of airworthiness. They will, however, require compliance with applicable FAA regulations and guidance developed for this category.” The comment period for this Policy Statement commenced February 13, 2007, and was not limited by the text of the document. The author’s recommendation is to consider the development of UA and their related systems against which current regulations may be applied or revised, and against which new regulations may be developed to provide for a safe integration of UAS operations into the NAS. viii 1. INTRODUCTION. An unmanned aircraft system (UAS) regulatory review was undertaken by the Center of Excellence for General Aviation Research (CGAR) for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). 1.1 OBJECTIVES. FAA Order 8040.4 specifies that “the FAA shall use a formal, disciplined, and documented decision-making process to address safety risks in relation to high-consequence decisions…” (See appendix A.) The introduction of UAS into the National Airspace System (NAS) represents the incorporation of new vehicles and, potentially, new classes of aircraft, which present a certain level of risk to the current NAS stakeholders. The objective of this study was to provide a systematic regulatory review to identify top-level gaps in existing regulations to facilitate the requirements of the FAA’s decision- and rulemaking processes. 1.2 BACKGROUND. The history of unmanned aerial vehicles is well documented in Unmanned Aviation: A Brief History of Unmanned Aviation by L. R. Newcomb. The recent expansion of the use of unmanned aircraft (UA) and UAS by the United States military and the application of UAS in the civil sector generated discussion about issues associated with the incorporation of UAS into the NAS. The question remains, however, as to whether the current regulatory structure can be applied directly to UA and their operating systems. For instance, the micro UAS may be powered by electric motors. In this instance, questions arise as to whether the current regulations that apply to aircraft powerplants apply equally to such UAS. Additionally, do regulations applying to aircrew relate to the pilots of UAS? When examining the current regulations, it seemed obvious that specific parts or subparts would not apply to UAS, such as those requiring a certain number of flight attendants onboard a particular aircraft. However, there remains the vast majority that might apply, depending upon any number of variables or interpretations. Most importantly, do the applicable regulations provide for an equivalent level of safety to that of manned aircraft, or will new or revised regulations be required to fill gaps identified through a comprehensive regulation study? The goal of this UAS regulation review was to systematically examine the relevant federal regulations, statutes, orders, and policies to identify the known issues resulting from the rapid growth of UAS technology, including, but not limited to, communication; control and relay stations; pilot-operator training and certification; “detect, sense and avoid” requirements; “see and avoid” (SAA) regulations; manufacturing standards and certification; integration into the NAS; and international standards and operating environments. 1