FAA, working for the sUAS clampdown?
One of the latest rumors floating around is that come this fall, the FAA has plans to institute some sort of commercial sUAS enforcement program…. three and a half years after their infamous policy clarification statement of February 13, 2007 http://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/uas/reg/media/frnotice_uas.pdf
The FAA is ready to make the NAS a safer place. Until now, the enforcement program has usually consisted of either the AOPA catching a news story, or competitors (both manned and unmanned) turning one another in. We’ll have to assume that here too they’ll go after the “low hanging fruit.” I imagine this enforcement approach will consist of Google searches for aerial photography services followed up with form letters full of boilerplate legalese referencing the FARs and absolute authority of the FAA administrator. Who, by the way, doesn’t appear to be a big fan of unmanned aircraft systems, but that is a story for another day. Those that don’t get caught up in the first dragnet will just have to wait their turn for the inevitable ramp check coming to a park/school/field near you.
If and when this clampdown comes to fruition, it is make or break. If the initial enforcement effort falls short of the intended goal they may have very well blown their chance to close the proverbial barn doors, or worse for them they’ll have to admit that the smalls don’t constitute the sky is falling risk that they contend.
One of my many integration maxims asserts that the forth leg on the regulation chair is enforcement. If you as a regulator can’t enforce you own policy, what type of regulation do you have?
