Federal Regulation of Domestic Drones
Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) are inherently different from manned aircraft. Introducing UAS into the Nation’s airspace is challenging for both the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the aviation community, because the United States has the busiest, most complex airspace in the world. The FAA is taking an incremental approach to safe UAS integration. The FAA regulates three different types of UAS operations: public operations (governmental), civil operations (nongovernmental), and model aircraft (hobby or recreation only). ■ Public Operations Public aircraft operations are limited by Federal statute to certain government operations within U.S. airspace. Title 49 of the U.S. Code (USC),…
