Regulatory Alert: FAA Announces New Drone Initiative Called BEYOND
October 30, 2020
Today the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced a new drone initiative called BEYOND, replacing the three-year Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration Pilot Program (IPP) that concluded this month. The new BEYOND program is expected to pivot and put a greater agency focus on enabling more routine beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operations that are scalable, with an emphasis on infrastructure inspections, public operations and small package delivery. This will help develop a framework and rules for allowing increased BVLOS operations rather than special waivers or approvals for individual operators. The initiative officially kicked off on October 26.
FAA made the announcement this afternoon during a live-streamed event, a recording of which you can view here. Leaders from the White House Science and Technology Office, U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), FAA, and UAS IPP participants all gave remarks. The press release can be viewed here.
UAS IPP Background. DOT and FAA launched the UAS IPP in October 2017 to bring state, local, and tribal governments together with private sector entities to accelerate the integration of drones into the National Airspace System (NAS). In particular, the program assisted DOT and FAA by providing the government with more data and experience on how to enable more routine and complex low-altitude operations while balancing local and national interests, security and privacy risks, and improving communications with other governmental entities. Nine UAS IPP participants, including the Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority, were involved.
UAS IPP Program Wrap Up. Today's announcement and virtual event was an opportunity for FAA to highlight successes arising from the UAS IPP, which was limited to three years by statute and officially concluded on October 25. While FAA has used the program to acquire data and experience to help accelerate UAS integration, the nine UAS IPP participants used the program to develop advanced UAS operations and demonstrate a wide range of use cases, including package delivery, infrastructure inspections, 911-emergency response, and other missions.
Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority, as the only airport involved in the UAS IPP, partnered with FedEx and focused on developing policies and procedures to better enable the use of drones at airports, with an emphasis on aircraft inspections, security surveillance, foreign object debris (FOD) detection, and payload delivery. Jay Merkle, Executive Director of FAA's UAS Integration Office, indicated in a separate post today that FedEx's use of drones to inspect aircraft at the airport has created a safer environment and reduced inspection time from two hours to 20 minutes.
FAA's BEYOND Initiative. With the UAS IPP now concluded, the BEYOND initiative is expected to place a greater emphasis on enabling more routine BVLOS operations. FAA also indicated that the agency, working with the BEYOND participants, will focus on analyzing the societal and economic benefits of UAS operations and addressing community concerns by increasing community engagement.
Eight of the nine UAS IPP participants will be participating in BEYOND, including Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; Innovation and Entrepreneurship Investment Authority of Virginia; Kansas Department of Transportation; Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority; North Carolina DOT; North Dakota DOT; City of Reno, Nevada; and University of Alaska-Fairbanks.
Today the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced a new drone initiative called BEYOND, replacing the three-year Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration Pilot Program (IPP) that concluded this month. The new BEYOND program is expected to pivot and put a greater agency focus on enabling more routine beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operations that are scalable, with an emphasis on infrastructure inspections, public operations and small package delivery. This will help develop a framework and rules for allowing increased BVLOS operations rather than special waivers or approvals for individual operators. The initiative officially kicked off on October 26.
FAA made the announcement this afternoon during a live-streamed event, a recording of which you can view here. Leaders from the White House Science and Technology Office, U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), FAA, and UAS IPP participants all gave remarks. The press release can be viewed here.
UAS IPP Background. DOT and FAA launched the UAS IPP in October 2017 to bring state, local, and tribal governments together with private sector entities to accelerate the integration of drones into the National Airspace System (NAS). In particular, the program assisted DOT and FAA by providing the government with more data and experience on how to enable more routine and complex low-altitude operations while balancing local and national interests, security and privacy risks, and improving communications with other governmental entities. Nine UAS IPP participants, including the Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority, were involved.
UAS IPP Program Wrap Up. Today's announcement and virtual event was an opportunity for FAA to highlight successes arising from the UAS IPP, which was limited to three years by statute and officially concluded on October 25. While FAA has used the program to acquire data and experience to help accelerate UAS integration, the nine UAS IPP participants used the program to develop advanced UAS operations and demonstrate a wide range of use cases, including package delivery, infrastructure inspections, 911-emergency response, and other missions.
Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority, as the only airport involved in the UAS IPP, partnered with FedEx and focused on developing policies and procedures to better enable the use of drones at airports, with an emphasis on aircraft inspections, security surveillance, foreign object debris (FOD) detection, and payload delivery. Jay Merkle, Executive Director of FAA's UAS Integration Office, indicated in a separate post today that FedEx's use of drones to inspect aircraft at the airport has created a safer environment and reduced inspection time from two hours to 20 minutes.
FAA's BEYOND Initiative. With the UAS IPP now concluded, the BEYOND initiative is expected to place a greater emphasis on enabling more routine BVLOS operations. FAA also indicated that the agency, working with the BEYOND participants, will focus on analyzing the societal and economic benefits of UAS operations and addressing community concerns by increasing community engagement.
Eight of the nine UAS IPP participants will be participating in BEYOND, including Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; Innovation and Entrepreneurship Investment Authority of Virginia; Kansas Department of Transportation; Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority; North Carolina DOT; North Dakota DOT; City of Reno, Nevada; and University of Alaska-Fairbanks.
If you have any questions or other feedback, or if you would like to join AAAE's UAS Working Group, please contact Justin Barkowski at justin.barkowski@aaae.org.
