Earlier this week (April 19-20) the FAA held its first ever
Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Symposium at the Daytona Beach
Ocean Center. The FAA called the meeting as “a forum for the
UAS Industry and stakeholder community to provide input and
feedback directly to the FAA decision-makers on topics related to
UAS Integration.” They were not kidding about the
“directly to decision-makers” part. The FAA brought a
“Who’s Who” of the senior most management of the
FAA.
FAA Administrator Michael Huerta opened the session with a recap
of the FAA’s recent accomplishments including the
registration task force and subsequent rule, the micro UAS task
force, and the improvements to the Section 333 process and
operational limitations. He also restated his commitment to deliver
the Small UAS Rule by “late Spring.” He cautioned the
industry, however, that there are still areas of risk that need to
be addressed and he mentioned the possible impact of the recent
drone vs. Airbus
