COA

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This area is causing all sorts of confusion for individuals. How close can you get to people? When can I get within 500ft of a person? Can I fly at a concert or football game? Can I fly over people?

Here is a quote from the exemption from one of my closed-set 333 clients.

“26. All Flight operations must be conducted at least 500 feet from all nonparticipating persons, vessels, vehicles, and structures unless:
a. Barriers or structures are present that sufficiently protect nonparticipating persons from the UA and/or debris in the event of an accident. The operator must ensure that nonparticipating persons remain under such protection. If a situation arises where nonparticipating persons leave such protection and are within 500 feet of the UA, flight operations must cease immediately in a manner ensuring the safety of nonparticipating persons; and
b. The owner/controller of any vessels, vehicles or structures has granted permission for operating closer to those objects and the PIC has made a safety assessment of the risk of operating closer to those objects and determined that it does not present an undue hazard.
The PIC, VO, operator trainees or essential persons are not considered nonparticipating persons under this exemption.”

The exemption does not indicate if this is a slant angle 500ft bubble or a 500ft ground circle. Functionally, there isn’t much of a difference here. If you look at the graph I created, at 200 ft (the max height for a blanket COA), the closest ground distance would be 458.3 ft. There is a 41.7 foot difference in interpretation. The two different interpretations only start mattering once you can start operating above the blanket COA.

The 500ft bubble is a pretty big bubble. Here is a graph of a 500ft slant angle bubble.

This bubble is going to prevent many urban and “in town” operations; however, later in the exemption’s conditions and limitations only applicable to operations for the purpose of closed-set motion picture and television filming and production, it says:

“31. Flight operations may be conducted closer than 500 feet from participating persons consenting to be involved and necessary for the filming production, as specified in the exemption holder’s MPTOM.”

Mere aerial data collection operations do NOT have these conditions. Closed-set acts like an “upgraded” version of aerial data collection.

So then who is a participating individual?

The FAA defines Participating Person/Authorized Person as, “All persons associated with the filming production must be briefed on the potential risk of the proposed flight operation(s) and they must acknowledge and accept those risks.Nonparticipating persons are the public, spectators, media, etc., not associated with the filming production.”

The only way you are going to get within 500ft is if the people are participating people, you are cleared for closed-set operations, and you are abiding by your motion picture manual.

http://jrupprechtlaw.com/

By Patrick C. Miller

The FAA authorized North Dakota’s Northern Plains UAS Test Site for night operations and to allow UAV flights statewide above the 200-foot ceiling set for the other five test sites.
PHOTO: UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA

Unmanned aerial systems (UAS) development in North Dakota received a boost from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) this week while also marking the first flight of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) from a general aviation airport.

The FAA gave the Northern Plains UAS Test Site approval to expand operations and night flight testing capabilities throughout the state. The University of North Dakota (UND) last week noted a flight test of the Northrup Grumman SandShark UAV conducted from the Lakota, North Dakota, public airport in conjunction with the Northern Plains UAS Test Site.

The FAA said its expanded authorization for the state was granted under the agency’s Certification of Authorization (COA) process, allowing industry more efficient access to airspace for collaborative research. The FAA said it approved the COA application based on the maturity and the demonstrated safety and operational processes used by the Northern Plains UAS Test Site.

“The addition of night flying opens up the opportunities for industry partners to test sensor payloads in all lighting conditions,” said Robert Becklund, test site executive director.

The Northern Plains UAS Test Site also received a COA that makes the entire state available for testing at altitudes higher than the 200-foot blanket COA issued to five other FAA approved sites. North Dakota is the first test site to be entirely covered by a COA that includes airspace above 200 feet for UAS testing.

The SandShark flight from the Lakota airport was part of a test project jointly funded by Rockwell Collins and the North Dakota Department of Commerce, according to Doug Olsen, project manager and a member of the UND UAS Center team. Rockwell Collins—located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa—is a manufacturer of avionics for manned aircraft and is developing UAV applications of its technologies.

“This was a milestone flight because right now there are no regulations allowing routine UAS flights at U.S. public airports,” said Al Palmer, director of the UND UAS Center of Excellence. “We are working closely with the FAA to ensure we conduct safe operations under our COA at the airport.”

Olson said, “Rockwell chose UND to test this new technology because of our UAS and test site capabilities. While this first flight was for crew currency and aircraft checks, the nature of the project—our objective—is to eventually fly with new Rockwell Collins radio technology to test how well it works, controlling UAS beyond line of sight.”

UND received the SandShark as the result of a cooperative agreement with Northrop Grumman Corp. to provide UAS pilot training to domestic and global customers. The agreement also encourages development of new technologies for UAS using the SandShark.

http://www.uasmagazine.com/articles/1203/faa-gives-nd-expanded-uas-flight-testing-capabilities

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"Keep Calm and Drone On"

Participating individuals, non-participating individuals, and the 500 ft bubble.

FAA gives ND expanded UAS flight testing capabilities