I have seen the future of entertainment, and it is drones! Well, perhaps not right away, but sooner than we might think. The Walt Disney Company has been known for being on the cutting edge of technological developments in the entertainment field throughout its history. As far back as the 1930s, Disney developed the first … Continue Reading
A few days ago Amazon announced, as reported in India’s Economic Times, it will be testing drone deliveries in Mumbai and Bangalore, both locations where it has warehouses. Apparently, it’s plan is to use an octocopter for deliveries taking 90 minutes to three hours. Amazon previously filed a petition for an exemption with the FAA … Continue Reading
Seemingly undeterred by his stinging defeat in the Texas EquuSearch’s v. FAA case, attorney Brendan Schulman is making another attempt to have the D.C. Circuit invalidate the FAA’s UAS rules. As our readers will remember, Texas EquuSearch brought an action earlier this year seeking to declare any effort by the FAA to regulate commercial UAS … Continue Reading
Ever since the dawn of civilization, man has wanted to know what was beyond the horizon. In fact, almost every advancement in transportation technology throughout human history has been driven by people trying to find the answer to the questions of just what is over that next hill, and how do we get to it. … Continue Reading
America has a proud history of entrepreneurship. If there is a need, and money can be made, people will leap at the chance to satisfy that need. Nothing exemplifies this principal more than the meteoric rise of the Uber car service and its imitators. Why stand on the street corner to try to hail a … Continue Reading
Regulation of Part 145 repair stations remains a high priority for the FAA. Last week, the FAA finished its latest rulemaking on the subject and published a final rule with several significant changes of which repair stations should be aware. Bad Actor Provisions One significant change involves new “bad actor” provisions which allow the FAA … Continue Reading
Up until very recently there were no options available for anyone wanting to fly a UAS commercially. In June, the FAA reached into its bag of tricks and pulled out an unused part of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, and created the Section 333 exemption. Under this process, anyone who can demonstrate … Continue Reading
Pursuant to Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) 91.9(b), a copy of an aircraft’s flight manual must be kept on board at all times. Similarly, FAR 91.203(a) mandates that a copy of an aircraft’s current airworthiness certificate and registration certificate be kept on the aircraft, and section 91.203(b) requires that the certificate be “displayed at the cabin … Continue Reading
On August 12, 2014, the Federal Register proposed to amend its regulations addressing NTSB accident investigation procedures. A copy of the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking is available on the government-wide website at www.regulations.gov [Docket ID Number NTSB-GC-2012-02]. This notice follows the NTSB’s publication, on June 25, 2012, of a notice of intent to undertake a … Continue Reading
These are both Latin phrases, “Caveat Emptor”, virtually everyone knows means ”let the buyer beware.” The other, “Ipse Dixit,” is a little more obscure and essentially means “it’s so because I say it’s so.” You’re probably wondering what the heck these have to do with UASs. As we all know, we stand at the beginning of … Continue Reading
It wasn’t too many weeks ago that the lead story on every network was Malaysia Airlines, Air Algerie or Trans Asia. In fact, aviation and air disasters were pretty much the only story. These days, turn on CNN, Fox News or the network newscasts and there’s nary a mention of any of these tragedies. Sure, … Continue Reading
As the Federal Aviation Administration moves forward with its promised rulemaking, let’s not lose sight of the fact that most of the world permits the use of UASs. In a series of continuing posts, we will focus on how you go about operating UASs outside the United States . . . the rules, the procedures, and … Continue Reading
The sky is such a big place, it seems odd to think of it as crowded. Nevertheless, there seems to be a never-ending stream of stories making just that point. For example, earlier this week it was reported that: In the last 30 days, there have been 10 incidents in which drones have gotten close … Continue Reading
One area under intense discussion by the entire UAS universe is the qualifications needed to be a UAS pilot. The final word on this subject resides with the FAA and will likely be addressed in the NPRM we are expecting this fall. To date, while the regulator hasn’t spoken definitively on the subject, it has suggested … Continue Reading
We were prepared to do an analysis this week on the 29,000 public comments the FAA has received to the Special Rule for Model Aircraft. Our plans were derailed, however, when the FAA unexpectedly decided to extend the comment period by another 60 days. As a result, UAS hobbyists can still give the FAA a … Continue Reading
Diane Westwood Wilson brings noted expertise to multijurisdictional litigations, arbitrations and aviation product liability cases NEW YORK, NY (August 6, 2014) – Diane Westwood Wilson joins McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP’s Aviation and Transportation practice as a partner in New York. A Chambers-ranked, “brilliant” aviation lawyer with broad commercial ligation and arbitration experience, Wilson represents … Continue Reading
Last week we wrote about the difficulties facing schools that want to train UAS pilots. Today we look a little deeper at the underlying issue: what does it take to be a commercial UAS pilot? We won’t know the answer to this question for sure until the final UAS rules are promulgated. We can, however, … Continue Reading
The FAA continues to be under pressure, as well as constant criticism, to advance the ball in the small UAS rulemaking area. In response, the FAA has re-affirmed its intent to publish the NPRM for small UASs this fall. In addition, with little fanfare, on June 23, 2014, the FAA published Chapter 16 to its … Continue Reading
Within the past few days, a law firm in England announced they’re going to sue Russia and its President, Vladimir Putin, for wrongful death damages arising from their role in the shootdown of MH 17. Now don’t get us wrong, the circumstantial and direct evidence certainly suggest that Russia was involved in some manner. What … Continue Reading
