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Safety Propels Innovation—Innovation Propels Progress
Thank you, Erik, for that introduction, and thanks to your entire team and to AUVSI for holding this landmark event—not once, but twice. Today in Episode 2, we’ll explore public safety topics, including the Integration Pilot Program and what we’ve learned, UAS security, community concerns, how to conduct safer missions, and a variety of other topics meant to help this global community succeed and grow.
As you know, the overarching theme for both episodes is Drones: Here for Good. Meaning, they’re here to stay, and, more importantly, they are proving to be beneficial for society.
When we take the energy and creativity of a newfound industry, not constrained by traditional aviation wisdom, and apply it to problems and opportunities in the public realm, the sky is the limit for what we might accomplish.
But that’s only part of the equation.
In order to be successful, we must balance these bold new ideas with tried and true safety considerations. That’s our role at the FAA: We make sure safety propels innovation, so that innovation can propel progress.
And if you want to see innovation propelling progress in the drone sector, you have to look no farther than the Department of Transportation’s Integration Pilot Program.
Consider some of the things we’ve accomplished to date with the IPP:
In the medical field, UPS Flight Forward and Matternet, as part of the North Carolina DOT IPP team, have dramatically reduced delivery times for medical samples as part of their routine UAS medical package deliveries over the WakeMed medical campus in Raleigh, North Carolina.
It was through the IPP that UPS, along with Wing Aviation, earned the distinction of becoming America’s first FAA-certified air carrier operators for UAS package deliveries.
In the public service sector, State Farm, a member of the Virginia IPP team, operated over people and beyond visual line of sight—also known as BVLOS—to conduct damage assessments following Hurricanes Florence and Michael. These successful operations led to a nationwide waiver that also covers pre-damage assessments.
The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma reaped a direct economic benefit by using drones to conduct inspections of pecan trees and was able to determine that seemingly diseased trees had healthy crops in their upper levels. They improved the crop yield for those trees by 200 percent.
Later this afternoon, you’ll hear from Chief Roxana Kennedy of the Chula Vista Police Department, part of the San Diego IPP team. Chief Kennedy’s department is successfully using drones to enhance the safety of its police officers and the community by giving first responders an early assessment when they respond to 911 calls.
For the first 1,000 missions, average on-scene response time was reduced from 6 minutes to 2.2 minutes for priority calls. The responding drones also provided information so dispatchers could determine the number of units to deploy, pinpoint the location of suspects’ discarded firearms, and follow vehicles under pursuit throughout the city.
At the Memphis Airport, FedEx has enhanced the efficiency and safety of its aircraft inspection process by replacing manual visual inspections by maintenance technicians with drone inspections. Using drones reduced aircraft inspection times from three hours to 20 minutes, and improved employee safety and data collection.
These are just a few examples, but perhaps more telling of how innovation, properly applied, can help people, is the speed with which our government, industry, and academia IPP teams pivoted to help out during the ongoing COVID-19 global health emergency.
In many cases, we’ve enabled drone use for COVID-19 within our existing regulations and emergency procedures, as well as through special approvals—some in less than an hour.
Wing Aviation used its Part 135 status to increase its partnerships with local businesses in Christiansburg, VA, to significantly increase contactless deliveries. As I mentioned in Episode 1, they even delivered library books!
Like Wing, UPS Flight Forward leveraged its ability to operate under Part 135 by providing prescription deliveries to a retirement community in Florida and conducting medical deliveries near Charlotte, NC.
Companies operating under Part 107 also joined the fight. For example, Flytrex and Zipline used their IPP experience to support COVID response efforts in North Carolina.
As you can see, there’s no shortage of innovation when it comes to drones. But to be successful in an industry where safety is the ultimate arbitrator, innovators must do the right thing when it comes to safety. The FAA is here to help. As I said earlier, we make sure safety propels innovation.
This is key to our future in drones and Advanced Air Mobility, or AAM. It speaks to how we must balance the promised benefits of new technologies with the potential safety impacts to our National Airspace System as we integrate these operations.
It’s the reason why we issued the proposed Remote Identification rule, and why we will finalize it by year’s end.
It’s the reason we’ve taken a proactive role in AAM, working with industry stakeholders to identify challenges, gaps, and areas for potential harmonization. We have engaged in two AAM-focused Executive Roundtables, collaborating with FAA and NASA executives and industry leaders to discuss the challenges and strategic priorities.
At headquarters FAA, we are integrating AAM into our planning efforts, with a focus on five pillars of activity: aircraft, airspace, operations, infrastructure, and community.
We’re also part of the NASA National Campaign, formerly known as the Urban Air Mobility Grand Challenge, where the idea is to demonstrate the realm of what’s possible for passenger and cargo transportation using these unconventional aircraft and traffic management methods.
To make sure safety propels drone innovation, we’ve been working with industry for almost four years on a Partnership for Safety Program initiative, or PSP, to address complex integration issues.
This team works across the FAA to evaluate and approve complex UAS operations that will benefit industry and inform our rulemaking process.
For example, the PSP team leveraged expertise in engineering, operations, maintenance, and safety, to help Xcel Energy to conduct system-wide BVLOS operations over its electric transmission system using a Certificate of Waiver.
This change in operations enabled the company to reduce risk to its employees by limiting exposure to high voltage currents, and flight and ground hazards, while greatly increasing the accuracy and frequency of inspections over 2,268 miles of electrical infrastructure spanning eight states.
Of course, you can’t talk about BVLOS without a nod to the trailblazer—BNSF Railway, which has completed enough beyond visual line of sight operations to more than circumnavigate the globe at the equator.
Another PSP partner, Florida Power and Light, estimates it can save more than $15 million over the next four years by replacing vehicles with drones to conduct routine transmission and distribution power line inspections.
There is also work being done to advance the use of cellular technology for command and control with Verizon/Skyward and a First Responder App, developed by GE AiRXOS. The app provides on-scene commanders the ability to mark the area where they are conducting UAS operations.
In the public safety arena, we worked with various associations to develop what’s called Tactical Beyond Visual Line of Sight, an operational mode that allows limited out of sight UAS operations in support of life saving efforts.
We created the Public Safety Small Drone Playbook, which is a resource guide for dealing with potentially unlawful UAS operations. We’ve sent out more than two thousand hard copies of the guide to public safety agencies, and several thousand copies have been downloaded from the FAA's website.
Internally to the FAA, we created a dedicated public safety liaison team that provides outreach through events, including webinars, videos, and digital media to support the public safety UAS mission.
All these activities are helping to inform rulemaking and national and international policies. That includes a new Safety Risk Management business process that ICAO included in its guidance for drone operations supporting humanitarian aid and emergency response for countries around the world to leverage.
In addition to reaching out across physical borders, I’m here to announce that we are also bridging the language barriers that are preventing the FAA from communicating with a growing number of people who are interested in drones. Communication is key—the safety of everyone in the NAS hinges upon UAS operators understanding the rules of the sky.
According to the Census Bureau, approximately 25.6 million individuals living in the United States are considered limited English proficient, or L-E-P, and the population of L-E-P individuals—defined as those having a limited ability to read, write, speak, or understand English—continues to grow. How many are recreational drone flyers, or would like to be?
That’s the reason we’ve started the UAS L-E-P Pilot Project. We’re translating select website content into Spanish, focusing on recreational flyers. This project will help us further extend outreach to the largest language community of L-E-P persons and provide access to basic safety information. The translated content will be available on our website and comes out just ahead of Hispanic Heritage Month, which starts in mid-September.
Community engagement will help us ensure that this outreach campaign has a measurable effect on improving safety for recreational flyers.
Organizations that have significant contact with L-E-P persons, such as local law enforcement, FSDOs, schools, and community-based groups can be very helpful in linking them to this information on our website.
We’ll monitor the effectiveness of our outreach through our social media and website engagement, as well as engagement with our UAS Support Center.
As a society, we’re especially fond of innovation and technology. Drones are no exception. But the staying power of a new entrant will depend on how the public perceives that entrant, and for the aviation industry, it’s critically important that the public sees that entrant is safe. So how is the drone industry doing so far?
According to our analysis of daily media reports about drones over the past six months, we estimate that roughly half of the stories are positive, 35 percent are neutral, and 15 percent are negative. I’d say that’s a pretty good ratio for any new development.
On many days, the news highlights extraordinary developments and “firsts” that support the theme of this conference. But on days like August 4th, there’s not much positive, or even neutral on the pages. That’s the day one careless operator used a drone to make a new kind of “first” – the first “drone delay” of a major league baseball game.
The news buzz a few weeks earlier, on June 29, was about an incident that could have led to much worse consequences. That’s the day the NTSB concluded that a news copter in Los Angeles had likely collided with a drone back in December 2019.
As with the baseball stadium prank, no one was injured, but these incidents are concrete reminders to us that the public at large does not differentiate between the professionals and the pranksters when it comes to safety.
That’s part of the reason that all of us here have worked so hard to communicate and educate and must continue to do so, and we must continue collaborating with events like this, to help get the word out, to cross geographic and language divides… so that safety can propel innovation, and innovation can propel progress. Then, and only then, will we be assured that drones will be….here for good.
Thank you for inviting me and I wish you an excellent Episode 2.
Interagency Issues Advisory on Use of Technology to Detect and Mitigate Unmanned Aircraft Systems
Guidance issued to help better understand the federal laws and regulations posed by UAS operations.No Drone Zone Announced for RNC in Charlotte, NC on August 24
Flying a drone in the restricted area is against the law.FAA to Release LGA AirTrain Draft EIS on August 21
Agency Seeks Public Comment on LaGuardia Airport AirTrain Draft Environmental Impact Statement.FAA to Host Virtual International Rotorcraft Safety Conference
Registration now Open! October 27-29The Only Constant is Change
Thank you, Steve. Hello everyone. I hope everyone’s keeping safe and doing well.
I wish we were meeting in my hometown of Atlanta, as initially planned. I enjoy getting back there when I can.
But of course, a lot of things are different this year. Only one of which is our reliance on virtual meetings, like this one.
As the old saying goes, “The only constant in life is change.” And as an aviation community, we’ve certainly seen our share of change in the last six months.
Before COVID-19, U.S. airlines were moving about 1 billion passengers a year, and we, as an industry, had achieved a safety record that was—and remains—the envy of the world.
We’re seeing about an 80% decrease in airline passenger traffic compared to early March.
General Aviation, including business jet operations, saw a significant drop in traffic during the spring, but it’s recovering quite a bit.
It might take a while. But overall traffic will bounce back.
As a broader aviation community, our success will depend on how well we adapt to the changes related to COVID-19, and how well we adapt to drones, commercial space transportation, and other kinds of rapid innovation we’re seeing in aviation.
In addition, our success depends on how well we collaborate with each other, and with other stakeholders, to address pressing issues like the safety and efficiency of surface operations and aircraft noise.
These are the topics I want to discuss today.
Let me start by saying that the FAA supports airports of all sizes. Whether they are big or small, urban or rural, airports are an invaluable part of our nation’s transportation infrastructure.
Through the CARES Act, we have awarded more than $2 billion in economic relief to 604 airports across the FAA’s Southern Region. These funds are helping airports with operational and maintenance costs like payroll, utilities, service contracts, and debt service.
As we continue to deal with this unprecedented public health challenge, it is critical that all airports continue making safety their top priority.
Continue conducting safety inspections.
Continue working with the FAA’s Air Traffic Organization on runway safety action teams.
And continue working with the FAA’s Southern Region office on safety matters. The entire office is available to you.
We are working remotely just as effectively as when we’re in the physical FAA office space. So don’t hesitate to reach out to us.
The more we can communicate, the better we can ensure safety in all aspects of the airport environment.
On that note, the FAA is developing a Safety Management Systems rule that would apply to airports. Many of you have voluntarily implemented SMS in your organizations, and we commend you for your commitment to safety.
Through SMS, airports will be in a better position to identify threats, mitigate risks, and share best practices with the broader aviation community.
One of the most visible areas of airport safety is on the runway.
Five years ago, the FAA’s Airports Office started the Runway Incursion Mitigation, or RIM, program, to address runway/taxiway intersections with high incidences of runway incursions due to nonstandard airport layouts.
Currently, we have identified projects for 124 intersections at 75 airports nationwide. These projects include changes to the airport layout, lights, signs, markings, and operational procedures. These changes will reduce the likelihood of pilot confusion and, ultimately, runway incursions.
To date, the RIM program has mitigated safety risk at 54 intersections – one-third of which are at airports in the FAA’s Southern Region – reducing runway incursions at these locations by more than 77%.
Also, we’re working with GA airport sponsors on a new initiative to improve runway safety areas at GA airports. The solutions could range from constructing new runway safety areas to installing an Engineered Material Arresting System.
And the FAA has a new YouTube video series called “From the Flight Deck.” This series uses cockpit and wing-mounted cameras to increase pilot awareness of common issues at particular airports around the country.
I’ll show you a clip of the main series trailer. Could you please play the video?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCfONL2r7C4
Thank you.
COVID-19 has delayed our filming schedule, but we have projects planned at airports like DeKalb-Peachtree, Daytona Beach, Fort Lauderdale International, and Sarasota-Bradenton. And we’ll post these videos as soon as they are complete.
While safety is our top priority, the FAA has also pursued several efforts to improve the efficiency of surface operations.
We have deployed Data Communications Tower Services at 62 airports throughout the country. We did it well ahead of schedule and significantly under budget.
Through June of this year, Data Comm has saved more than 1.5 million minutes of flight delay and more than 2.2 million minutes of communications time between controllers and pilots.
Just two of the thousands of examples of delay reduction include saving an airline flight 22 minutes compared to a voice-only flight on a historically bad weather day at Orlando International.
Data Comm also saved a flight 10 minutes compared to a voice-only flight at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson on a day when there were ground stops in Florida.
This means that passengers and cargo get to their destinations more quickly and efficiently.
Another tool that will improve surface efficiency is the Terminal Flight Data Manager. TFDM will modernize tower operations by replacing manual paper flight strips with electronic flight strip displays.
TFDM will share data among controllers, aircraft operators, and airports so they can better stage arrivals and departures and more efficiently manage traffic flow on the surface and within terminal airspace.
We’re deploying TFDM at 89 airports, including all Core 30 airports between 2021 and 2029.
While TFDM relies on getting departure readiness data from the airlines, much of the GA community, including business aviation, does not have a method to provide this kind of data.
We’re prototyping a mobile device application that can help overcome this challenge. It’s called Pacer.
When preparing for a flight, pilots can use Pacer to submit an intended departure time and view the busy departure times at the airport.
With this information, a business jet operator might decide to leave an hour earlier, or an hour later to avoid busy times. It’s just like going on the web and checking out the busy times for a restaurant.
A Pacer web portal lets airport and traffic flow managers see this demand information and conduct better planning through a common view of expected airport operations.
Our long-term goal is to pull those departure readiness times from the GA community into TFDM, so we’ll have an even better picture of surface operations. The vision is that these capabilities within Pacer will be integrated into existing aviation apps used by pilots and crews.
We’re currently testing the prototype at several airports in the Dallas-Ft. Worth and Las Vegas area, and we plan to expand testing to Charlotte Douglas International Airport and Augusta Regional Airport for the Masters Tournament.
You can tell your GA operator communities to go to pacer.aero to learn how to get the app on their mobile device.
Through capabilities like Data Comm, TFDM, and Pacer, the FAA continues to develop innovation to make airport operations more efficient.
Toward that end, we are conducting research on how drones can be used to perform airport-centric operations, such as obstruction analysis, wildlife hazard management, airfield pavement inspections, perimeter security inspections, and aircraft rescue and firefighting operations.
But we also want to keep unauthorized drone users from interfering with airport operations.
We’re working to establish a Remote ID requirement that can identify drones near airports. We received 53,000 comments on the proposed rule, and we’re in the process of finalizing the rule now, which we expect to publish by the end of the year.
I encourage you to register for Episode #2 of the FAA’s UAS Symposium on August 18-19th, where you can learn more about the efforts we’re making toward drone integration. Visit faa.gov for more details.
In addition, we will be soliciting airport operators and technology vendors to see who would like to participate in our UAS Detection and Mitigation Airport testing and evaluation program. The solicitations will be out for 45 days and will be posted on beta.SAM.gov.
The FAA is also working to integrate commercial space transportation into the airspace system.
There have been 26 space operations this fiscal year. And while COVID-19 has delayed some expected launches, we do expect nine more by the end of September. That would put us higher than last fiscal year’s total of 32 space operations.
Several airports have expressed interest in becoming spaceports. This past May, we approved a spaceport license for Space Coast Regional Airport in Central Florida. And Huntsville International Airport in Alabama is planning to apply for a license.
We want to integrate commercial space operations in a way that minimizes disruption to existing air traffic.
We’re developing a whole suite of technologies and procedures to reduce the size and duration of closed airspace for a space operation and release that airspace more efficiently so it’s available to other airspace users. We’re also developing capabilities to more efficiently reroute air traffic around space launch areas.
Finally, I’d like to touch on the issue of aircraft noise. As you know, it’s a concern for many local communities, and the concern has to be addressed by every group that has a role in noise.
Before traffic starts to build back up, we want to use this time – as an aviation community – to really think strategically about how we can better engage the public on this issue.
As part of this effort, we want to provide our citizens with a more robust understanding about what factors contribute to aircraft noise in their communities.
Many airports hold Roundtables with their stakeholders and the public to address these concerns. And the FAA is committed to participating at these meetings and engaging in meaningful dialogue with all parties.
When it comes to designing air traffic procedures, we prioritize the safety and efficiency of the system. And we take into consideration the needs of the airlines and the airports, as well as the concerns of the general public.
We unveiled a Noise Portal in the Southern Region for the public to communicate their noise-related concerns.
We have also established partnerships with Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson and Greenville-Spartanburg International in South Carolina to coordinate on noise-related information and data that can be provided to the public.
And in June, the FAA held a series of virtual workshops, as part of our community outreach to discuss the proposed Metroplex procedures for Central and South Florida.
These virtual meetings were a big success, providing more than 100,000 people the opportunity to engage with the FAA. It was the first time we did something like this on that scale.
Our Communications office did a great job of broadcasting these meetings through our social media platforms.
We had a broad range of participation from airport officials, airline pilots, air carriers, and environmental specialists that were able to help answer questions from members of the public.
We have virtual meetings upcoming in Boston and Chicago, and we would like to have significant stakeholder participation just as we did in Florida.
In closing, I want to reiterate that the FAA believes strongly in supporting airports of all types, locations, and sizes throughout the country.
We continue to focus on ways to mitigate safety risk at the airport.
We continue to invest in innovative technologies and research to make airport operations more efficient.
We continue to integrate drones and commercial space vehicles into the airspace system, while being mindful of how they could potentially affect airports.
And we remain steadfast in our desire to collaborate with you in these areas. So please continue to connect with the Southern Region office.
I know that not all of the wisdom comes from FAA Headquarters. It’s important that we keep listening to you and seeing things from your perspective.
Thanks everyone and I hope you have a great conference.