Amazon Gets Experimental Airworthiness Certificate
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The U.S Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued an experimental airworthiness certificate to an Amazon Logistics, Inc. unmanned aerial systems (UAS) design that the company will use for research and development and crew training. The FAA typically issues experimental certificates to manufacturers and technology developers to operate a UAS that does not have a type certificate.
Having said that, it would seem the timing of is certificate is at least associated with the pressure of the FAA to relax its recently published UAS guidelines. The FAA’s newly unveiled hardline principles for using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in civilian airspace were met with heavy criticism from the private sector.
Although the FAA welcomes feedback from the public, its insistence that UAV operators maintain eye contact with the drone at all times render commercial use virtually impossible. It should be noted, that under the provisions of the special FAA certificate, all UAS flight operations must be conducted at 400 feet or below during daylight hours in visual meteorological conditions.
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The UAS must always remain within visual line-of-sight of the pilot and observer. The pilot actually flying the aircraft must have at least a private pilot’s certificate and current medical certification.
The certificate also requires Amazon to provide monthly data to the FAA. The company must report the number of flights conducted, pilot duty time per flight, unusual hardware or software malfunctions, any deviations from air traffic controllers’ instructions, and any unintended loss of communication links. The FAA includes these reporting requirements in all UAS experimental airworthiness certificates.
If the experiments are successful it will open the skies for many other companies that have realized the potential in using small UAS. Nevertheless, the US still lags far behind many nations in Europe when it comes to UAS licensing and operation. There is a huge gap between the innovations and market leadership the US boasts, and the legal framework required for civilian applications, from HLS through agriculture, photography, delivery, infrastructure monitoring, search and rescue, and so on.
