“There is no enforceable federal regulation concerning the operation of a
model Airplane”
Attorney Brendan Schulman
representing Team BlackSheep founder Raphael Pirker, in an interview with Wired
Magazine on October 2013
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and all Drone enthusiasts in the USA just caught a
legal break, clearing the way for Commercial Drone Projects like Amazon
PrimeAir and competitors FedEx and UPS as noted in my blog article entitled
“UPS
and FedEx developing their Own Delivery Drones to compete with Amazon PrimeAir
- Premium Rush Package Delivery Drones herald the coming of Google's Personal
Androids that are Almost Human”.
Turns out that the six year ban on Drones imposed by the FAA (Federal
Aviation Authority) in 2007 is not an official regulation and neither is it
clear-cut when it comes to Model Aircraft, which many Americans have been
flying for years before this Drone Ban came into place as argued by Team
BlackSheep founder Raphael Pirker in “Drones
allowed to fly the US skies, for now”, published March 6, 2014 8:55 PM PST
by Dara Kerr, CNET News.
This as the National Transportation Safety Board Judge Patrick Geraghty
has ruled that the Ban by the FAA on Drones is not legally binding and in fact
doesn't even apply to Model Airplanes as the FAA, to quote his case notes: “has
not issued an enforceable Federal Acquisition Regulation regulatory rule
governing model aircraft operation. Respondent's model aircraft operation was
not subject to FAR regulation and enforcement”.
The fame Drone Maker had his ass hauled before the FAA after he was
slapped with a US$10000 fine. This fine was issued as it was alledged that on October
17th 2011, Raphael Pirker aka “Trappy” who was contracted by Lewis
Communications to do aerial photography and Video for their client the University
of Virginia using his 4.5-pound Ritewing Zephyr-powered glider, endangered the
lives of civilians at the event as described in “Remote
aircraft pilot fights $10,000 FAA fine, could change Drone rules”,
published October 9, 2013 04:39 pm By Chris Welch, The Verge.
Feeling trapped after years of plying his trade without incident, even
doing some videos over New York, he naturally sought legal counsel and appealed
the FAA Fine before the NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board). His argument
was that albeit he had no pilot's license, the FAA had no legal ground to stand
on as it related to their ban in the first place!
FAA erred – Administrative
Procedures Act blunder means Drones and Model Planes are equals
Apparently when the FAA had imposed their ban on Commercial Drones in
2007, they failed to hold any notice-and-comment rulemaking period to consult
the public via City and Town Hall Meetings, instead action on its own out of
concern for public safety - and possibly assuming the public sentiment against Drones
due to their lack of education would make the ban universally acceptable.
This guideline is as laid out in the Administrative Procedures Act, which
informs Public Agencies on how they are to proceed to implement Bans, Warning
and administer other regulatory instruments to enforce and enact their roles as
State entities as explained in “Drone
Pilot Fights for Right to Profit in the Unmanned Skies”, published
10.09.136:30 AM BY DAVID KRAVETS, Wired.
Well, turns out that it may not be the case, as that's the procedure that
the FAA failed to follow, thereby making the ban invalidated and inapplicable
to Drones. Worse, the FAA Ban was broad-brushed over every flying aircraft, excepting
Model Airplanes which Airplane hobbyists and enthusiasts have been flying for
years without incident.
These products technically aren't Drones, as most of them are a RC (Radio
Controlled) and aren’t packing the sophisticated Audio, photographic and video
Electronics and guidance packages typical of most Drones. But due to the
similarity in the design of Raphael “Trappy” Pirker’s Drone, in this case a 4.5-pound
Ritewing Zephyr-powered glider, he could be seen as flying a Model Airplanes,
save for the bristling Electronics package onboard to film the whole thing.
From his point of view, he was being punished and his actions were being
criminalized under an improperly enforced ban as he sought to commercialize flying
his “Model Aircraft”, as he ask quote: “How come the flight is less dangerous
if you’re not receiving any compensation for it?”.
Thus based on the National Transportation Safety Board Judge Patrick
Geraghty ruling, Drones for commercial purposes are now free to fly. The FAA
may appeal and kick the case up the US Court of Appeals, but that’s unlikely.
America the Backward – Forward thinking
Black Sheep leading America towards an Almost Human Future
This is an interesting case to watch and my eyes are now firmly fixed on
it. It seems rather curious as a Jamaican to observe this happening in a
Developed Country quibbling over Drones, yet we here in Jamaica already use
them for Aerial Photography as noted in my Geezam
blog article entitled “Skycam Jamaica
Aerial Photography marks possible Revival of Package Delivery in the Jamaica
Postal Service”.
Worse, the UAE (United Arab Emirates) has now begun using them to deliver
Government documents as of February 2014 as stated in “Drone
deliveries get off the ground in Dubai”, published February 10, 2014 8:38
PM PST by Dara Kerr, CNET News. So the US
of A is waaaay behind on Drones for
Commercial usage.
The FAA themselves have been backpedalling on their Ban, apparently realizing
that it’s not legally binding, despite their concern for public safety. Since November
2013 they’ve been cautiously recommending unmanned Drones for thing like Hunter
spotting, Research and even for farmers to Spray their crops, so long as it’s
shoe-box sized as noted in “FAA
cautiously agrees to some use of civilian Drones”, published November 7,
2013 7:13 PM PST by Dara Kerr, CNET News.
Plus they have a double standard, as they routinely approve Drones for
Military and Police work, but snub Commercial usage of Drones. Thus Amazon
PrimeAir may be flying sooner than five years as pointed out in entitled “Amazon
plans to launch Amazon PrimeAir, their 30 minute Drone Package Delivery Service
for Amazon Prime users - Playing Catch-up as Mailpak launches DealBug in
Jamaica”.
Looks like a Forward thinking Black Sheep leading America towards an Almost Human (2013 -) Future!
No comments:
Post a Comment