FAA Requests Police Departments To Try UAVs In Urban Envoronments!

Keep an eye out for those Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, even over urban
environments:

HOUSTON, MIAMI POLICE TEST UAVS
(http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archive...ll.html#196649)
Will news helicopters and traffic spotters soon be mixing it up
with police drones? That's one of many questions that will have to
be answered as the FAA asks the Miami and Houston police forces to
try out unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) "in urban environments"
for tasks like search and rescue and spotting traffic hazards. And
since the policy has been to close large tracts of airspace to
normal traffic when UAVs are in the air, another question on the
minds of pilots in both cities might be how these tests will
affect their activities. Whatever the ramifications, the tests are
scheduled to last until June and Houston's assistant police chief
Martha Montalvo told the Houston Chronicle they are preliminary.
"At this point, the project is strictly on a research level," she
said.



http://miami.indymedia.org/news/2007/11/9665.php
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Won't Go Away
by Air Safety Week Wednesday, Nov. 07, 2007 at 11:39 PM


The National Transportation Safety Board's historic ruling on the
probable cause of the April 2006 Predator B unmanned aircraft
crash in Arizona represents just the first of a series of unmanned
systems accident investigations that will follow as drones of all
sizes finally win approval by federal air safety regulators to
operate unfettered in the National Airspace System (NAS).

November 6th, 2007 09:47 AM EDT

The Safety Board ruled that the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)
accident was chiefly caused by the ground-based pilot's failure to
use checklist procedures to safely operate the aircraft. The NTSB
issued 22 safety recommendations to the U.S. Customs and Border
Protection and the Federal Aviation Administration covering "a
wide range of safety issues involving the civilian use of unmanned
aircraft," said Safety Board Chairman Mark V. Rosenker.

He said the contractor's performance in providing airborne border
patrol surveillance for the federal agency was not without issue.
"This was not as tight (an operation) as it should have been. CBP
bought what it believed was a solid operation, but mistakes were
being made."

At issue is whether unmanned aerial systems (UAS) will ever
provide "an equivalent level of safety" to manned aircraft
operating in the NAS.

"This investigation has raised questions about the different
standards for manned and unmanned aircraft and the safety
implications of this discrepancy," said Rosenker. "Why, for
example, were numerous unresolved lock-ups of the pilot's control
console even possible while such conditions would never be
tolerated in the cockpit of a manned aircraft?"

Expressing concerns about how manned and unmanned aircraft will
share the same airspace, Chairman Rosenker said, "The fact that we
approved 22 safety recommendations based on our investigation of a
single accident is an indication of the scope of the safety issues
these unmanned aircraft are bringing into the NAS."

The Safety Board's investigation revealed that the pilot was not
proficient in the performance of emergency procedures, which led
to the accident. "The pilot is still the pilot, whether he is at a
remote console or on the flight deck." ...

He said achieving "an equivalent level of safety" for drone
operations in the NAS is not just a goal, but a given. "We
shouldn't settle for anything less.

A UAV can't be a rogue, exempt from appropriate rules and
regulations that keep our airspace safe and thus avoids chaos."
...

The DOJ said prior to purchasing or leasing a UAS, potential law
enforcement users should consider the following:

* The FAA has stated publicly that COAs would not be issued for
use of a UAS over populated areas, such as may be defined by the
yellow areas on aviation sectionals (aviation map). This includes
most cities and densely populated areas;

* The operation of a UAS requires a FAA certificated pilot with a
current class II medical certificate and an observer, who while
not required to be a pilot, but must have a class II medical
certificate;

* A vendor approaching a law enforcement agency offering to
demonstrate a UAS to an agency must have an experimental
airworthiness certificate issued by the FAA prior to the flight. A
vendor cannot rely upon an agencies COA to fly the aircraft. COAs
are only issued for aircraft that qualify as "public" aircraft;

* The rules allowing the recreation use of model aircraft by
hobbyist DO NOT allow law enforcement agencies to use a UAS
without a COA;




http://www.amtonline.com/article/art...tion=1&id=4683
* It is not anticipated that the FAA will amend their position on
the operations of UAS before the year 2010. However, there are two
key activities taking place that will push the airspace access
issue forward. The first is that the FAA has agreed to conduct two
test projects with major metropolitan police departments. One is
Miami/Dade, and the other is Houston. Each of these will provide
valuable insight into the difficulties that may exist in operating
UAS in urban environments. The other activity is the creation of
new regulation for small UAS to fly in the airspace. This recent
development is just starting and will be the genesis for getting
small UAS flying in a majority of the U.S. without a COA.
Rulemaking can take time, however, so stick with the COA process
for the next year or two.