Using small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) for education just got a lot easier

Some outstanding news was just released yesterday at the annual AUVIS Xponential 2016 conference in New Orleans, which will likely make it much easier to fly sUAS for educational purposes.  At the conference, the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Michael Huerta, announced that effective immediately the FAA would start allowing students to fly sUAS without a Section 333 Exemption or a Certificate of Authorization under model aircraft rules. Of course, this being the case, it is incumbent upon the sUAS pilot to know and abide by the standing rules of model aircraft flight.  These rules state that you must:

• Fly below 400 feet and remain clear of surrounding obstacles
• Keep the aircraft within visual line of sight at all times
• Remain well clear of and do not interfere with manned aircraft operations
• Don't fly within 5 miles of an airport unless you contact the airport and control tower before flying
• Don't fly near people or stadiums
• Don't fly an aircraft that weighs more than 55 lbs
• Don't be careless or reckless with your unmanned aircraft – you could be fined for endangering people or other aircraft

Source:  https://www.faa.gov/uas/model_aircraft/

It is also important to note, students may only fly under model aircraft rules if it is a part of their curriculum or through a student club, and it is for recreational purposes at an accredited educational institution.  Any and all research projects at schools and by students are still considered non-recreational.  For the official FAA memorandum regarding this rule update, Click Here.   

For the news article about the change in regulations, posted yesterday by the FAA, go to: https://www.faa.gov/news/updates/?newsId=85528    

This is indeed good news, but it is also critical that you know and abide by the regulations of your affiliated educational institution, as they may be significantly stricter than the rules set forth by the FAA.  Schools and universities must also consider legal liability, in addition to the health and safety of their student body and the public at large.  For those of you that that have flown sUAS for some time, you probably know that if something can go wrong it will, given enough time; and a sUAS can be much like a flying blender under the wrong circumstances.  For this reason the University of California recently established the Center of Excellence for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Safety, to be a policy and knowledge hub for the entire UC System.  As more information regarding this new UC resource comes available, we will keep you posted.

In the meantime, please continue to educate yourself about sUAS applications and be very careful while operating any sUAS in the future.  For more information about sUAS safety and regulations, consider visiting the http://knowbeforeyoufly.org/ website, and take advantage of their online map for restricted airspace at:  http://knowbeforeyoufly.org/air-space-map/

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