The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has selected six teams to test and research the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in a number of terrains and scenarios ahead of safe integration into the nation's airspace, according to the Shipping Gazette.
Commercial use of drones, self-guided aircraft, is limited to a few operators: surveillance by border and port authorities; supporting scientific research and environmental monitoring; public safety by law enforcement agencies and state universities' research.
The six test sites were selected from 25 proposals from teams in 24 states. The sites will investigate various areas of use such as drone integration into the FAA's NextGen air traffic control system in Nevada and operation in seven climatic zones.
The six test site operators will also look at geography, location of ground infrastructure, research needs, airspace use, safety, aviation experience, risk.
The teams will be based at the following locations of Alaska, Nevada, New York, North Dakota, Texas and Virginia.
The University of Alaska will look at the development of a set of standards for unmanned aircraft categories, state monitoring and navigation. Alaska also plans to work on safety standards for UAS operations and State of Nevada's air traffic control integration.
New York's Griffiss International Airport will focus research on sense and avoid capabilities for UAS, and its sites will aide in researching the complexities of integrating UAS into the congested, northeast airspace.
North Dakota will conduct human factors research.
Texas A&M University plans to develop system safety requirements for UAS vehicles and operations with a goal of protocols and procedures for airworthiness testing.
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University plans to conduct drones failure mode testing and identify and evaluate operational and technical risks areas. This proposal includes test site range locations in both Virginia and New Jersey.
FAA administrator Michael Huerta said it hopes to integrate drones into the nation's aviation system safely and aims for the first site to be active within 180 days. "Safety continues to be our first priority as we move forward with integrating unmanned aircraft systems into US airspace," he said, in a report from Atlanta area Air Cargo World.
Site privacy is a top priority and the operators must comply with federal, state and other laws protecting an individual's right to privacy; produce a written plan for data use and retention; be required to conduct an annual review of privacy practices that allows public comment.
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