A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Issue link: http://natca.uberflip.com/i/750462
RF Display Action Team UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS (UAS): Steve Weidner (ZMP) is the NATCA Article 114 Representative for UAS. Jeff Richard s (ZAU) is assisting Mr. Weidner on this project due to the workload and activity associated with it. Below is the update for the membership. Small UAS Rule/Part 107 : The agency continues the implementation of the small UAS rule that went into effect on A ug . 29th. The agency is phasing in operations for Clas s B, C, D , and E Surface areas. As of October 31st, authorizations were being granted for C lass C, D , and E surface areas. The agency is still on track to begin approvals for Class B airspace on Decemb er 5th. As a reminder, all authorizations are to be requested through headquarters via the faa.gov/uas website. No approvals are to be made at the local level. The agency continues to conduct weekly telcon/webinars t hat are available for all employees to answer questions about the new rule and its implementation. The calls occur at 1 p . m . EST and are repeated weekly on Wednesdays and will continue through Dec . 21st. Mr. Weidner and Mr. Richards will be participating in these calls. Here is the link to register for these w ebinar s: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3378736936558080770 . Additionally, Mr. Weidner and Mr. Richards ca n be reach for questions on the small rule at Part107@natca.net . The Future of small UAS Approval Process : T he authorization process described in the above section is time consuming and labor intensi ve. Given th e volume of requests expected, manually approving each request will not be feasible. Therefore, the Agency issued a Request For Information (RFI) several weeks ago regarding the development of an automated UAS Notification and Authorization (N&A) systems. The RFI will NOT be leading to a Request For Proposals (RFP), which would mean the FAA is going to award a contract for the design and implementation of an N&A system. Rather, the Agency wants to meet with industry partners with the capability of deve loping such a system to develop a common data - sharing program. The Agency received great interest in the RFI and Mr. Weidner and Mr. Richards have been working with the agency to define the requir ements for an approval system. The process for reviewing t he RFI s is now complete and the Agency will begin to schedule in - person meetings/demos with the RFI respondents who demonstrated knowledge and ability to create an N&A system. UAS Safety Team (UAST) : The FAA has sponsored the creation of a UAS Safety Tea m to work issues with UAS safety as integration occurs. The UAST is being modeled after the Commercial Aviation Safety Team (CAST) and the General Aviation Joint Steering Committee (GAJSC). Both of these committees have an established track record of imp roving the safety record of their re spective aviation communities. It is the goal of the Agency that by establishing the UAST, which is co - chaired by and Agency and Industry representative, UAS integration can oc cur with the greatest level of safety possible. The first meeting of the UAST was held in Washington , D . C . on Oct. 18 - 19. Mr. Weidner attended the UA ST meeting on behalf of NATCA. The majority of this first meeting was spent on background and establishi ng a structure and order.