Drone Community Takes the Battle to the FAA

For the past several years, the FAA has led the charge against drone operators. Whether it’s a lawsuit, subpoena threats or regulatory offensives, the federal agency continues to chase UAVs in an attempt to set new guidelines and assert regulatory dominance. 

Now, the FAA is playing defense as drone operators take to the courts to plead their case. 

Case in point: On Friday, plaintiffs comprising 188 research universities filed suit against the FAA in federal court. And, commercial drone operators and hobbyists are waging their own offensive against the aviation regulators – filing two challenges in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. 

In the case of the researcher group – the Council on Government Relations – the FAA’s enforcement efforts were labeled “a grave threat to science, research, education, and technological innovation across the United States.”

“As a result of the Order, the FAA has imposed, and will continue to impose, direct and immediate hardship on day-to-day university affairs, including the faculty’s ability to teach, research and explore science curricula.”

The alliance of hobbyists and business interests — UAS America Fund, Skypan International, Drone Pilots Association and FPV Manuals – claims in their Petition for Review  that the FAA’s “Interpretation of the Special Rule for Model Aircraft,” “purports to make Petitioners’ commercial activities involving these devices subject to, in violation of, or prohibited by, aviation regulations.”

The UAS Fund in particular, which was formed to “provide infrastructure financing to the emerging commercial UAS industry” stated it has a compelling interest in seeing the Rule vacated. 

“The ongoing ability of companies, entrepreneurs, state agencies, universities and others to freely research, develop, test and deploy UAS, as they had been doing prior to the Order, is crucial to the financial success of the UAS Fund.”

Skypan International also pointed out that the Rule, which states that UAVs “be operated only for hobby or recreational purposes,” would gravely harm its capacity to do business:

“SkyPan has for 16 years engaged in the business of aerial  photography using small radio-control model helicopters. These model helicopters capture ‘future view’ panoramic images from buildings that have yet to be constructed. The photographs are most often used by SkyPan’s real estate developer and architectural clients to fund, design and market residential and office towers nationwide. The Order poses a grave threat to SkyPan’s entire business model, and the jobs of its eight employees, by purporting to regulate, restrict, or even completely prohibit, use of model aircraft technology in all commercial  photography applications.

Although an FAA official claimed at a recent aviation forum  that the agency would set a “prudent, step-by-step basis” in issuing drone safety and certification policies, critic say regulators are moving like molasses in an industry that flies rapidly through agile and innovative skies.