A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Issue link: http://natca.uberflip.com/i/797457
NATCA UAS HITL PARTICIPATION There is a terminal Human In The Loop (HITL) study coming up at the William J. Hughes Technical Center in Atlantic City, N . J ., March 28 - 30. NATCA controllers from D01, NCT, PCT , and I90 are participating. This study i s focused on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) contingency operations. There are several scenarios incorporated into these studies including lost link, which is unique to UAS. NATCA/FAA WORKGROUPS NATCA and the FAA have formed two work groups under the NATCA/FAA Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration Workgroup Scope Agreement and is in the process of forming a third workgroup. The two groups that have been formed are a Part 107 workgroup and a Sta ndardized Los t Link workgroup. The Part 107 workgro up is a headquarters workgroup that will make facility visits in the coming months to assess how the process of implementing the Small UAS R ule (Part 107/101) is working. The goal of the work group is to elicit feedback from the field and formulate recomm endations on how small UAS rule processes and procedures can be improved. The Standardized Lost Link workgroup was formed to create recommendations on standardized UAS lost link procedures. Often times a single UAS flight in the NAS can contain dozens o f lost link procedures, depending upon where the UAS is along its route. In order to move toward full UAS integration into the NAS, simpler, more predictable lost link pr ocedures need to be developed. This workgroup will be comprised of headquarters, ind ustry , and NATCA SME s from the field. The third workgroup, which is still bein g formed, is for UAS t raining. The focus of this workgroup will be to ensure the development and implementation of UAS training for the air traffic workforce. The integration of UAS into the NAS is not slowly down and it is imperative that the field receives the proper training as integration initiatives increase. LOW ALTITUDE AUTHORIZATION AND NOTIFICATION CAPABILITY (LAANC) The agency is accelerating its work to implement a LAANC system that will speed the process for approvals and notifications for small UAS operating in B, C, D , and E surface area airspace. The goal is to begin the rollout of this sys tem before the end of CY 2017. The FAA is not awarding a contract to a s pecific vendor to develop this capability, but rather working on a common data - sharing platform that may be used by several vendors to provide approval capability based on informatio n provided to them by the FAA. The vendors will, in turn, be required to provide information back to the FAA on Part 101/107 UAS flights that were aut hori zed via the vendor system. This data will be provided to our air traffic control facilities. There are many items that have to be completed between now and implementation, n ot the least of w hich is training to the field. Mr. Weidner and Mr. Richards are fully participating in this effort on NATCA's behalf. DRONE ADVISORY COMMITTEE (DAC) NATCA Executive Vice President, Trish Gilbert, participated in the second meeting of th e DAC on January 31 in Reno, N ev. Mr. Weidner, Mr. Richards , and NATCA Deputy Dire ctory of Safety and Technology Mark McKelligan are supporting Trish on the DAC. The DAC is currently focused on three primary areas, Local vs. National Goals and Responsibili ties for UAS, UAS Access to Airspace, and FAA UAS Finance. Mr. Richards