FAA Drone Integration Pilot Program – Trumps announcement explained

President Trump issued an executive memorandum to the Department of Transportation telling them to implement the drone integration pilot program described in the memo. The idea is a state, local, or tribal government working with a non-government entity applies to the FAA to have an “innovation zone” designated in their area to develop and safely test new and innovative UAS concepts of operations. These innovation zones allow more advanced drone operations to take place such as “delivery of life-saving medicines and commercial packages, inspections of critical infrastructure, support for emergency management operations, and surveys of crops for precision agriculture applications.” The innovation zones also will allow for “testing of new UAS traffic management systems and detection and tracking capabilities” and counter UAS technology in accord with current law.

I wrote an article on this new pilot program.

Table of Contents of the article.

• Quick Summary of Drone Integration Pilot Program
• Who Is In Support of the Drone Integration Pilot Program:
• Who Is Against the Drone Integration Pilot Program:
• PROS:
• CONS:
• Problems I See/ Questions Left Unanswered:
• FAQ’s from the DOT
• Actual Text of the Executive Memo
• White House’s Fact Sheet on the Pilot Program