Recently, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced the organizations selected to help the agency in improving test administration requirements for recreational Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) or drones aeronautical knowledge and safety test. The federal agency is pursuing these efforts to improve the large portion of drone operations and its public safety.
In 2018, a law was passed requiring recreational drone flyers to pass an online aeronautical knowledge and safety exam. Once the exam was passed, drone flyers were to carry a copy of the test results on their person while operating a drone. With over one million FAA-registered recreational drone flyers and counting, the FAA will expand on the test to increase the aeronautical knowledge of recreational drone flyers to ensure safe flight operations.
RFI Stakeholders
On September 17, the FAA released a Request for Information (RFI) in search of stakeholders who would work with the federal agency on a new aeronautical knowledge test for recreational drone flyers. Based on the responses to the RFI, the organizations selected will give recommendations on the FAA’s test for recreational drone flying to help develop the test administration process and requirements. The organizations are as follows:
- Embry Riddle Aeronautical University
- Drone Launch Academy Southeastern University
- Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC)
- DJI
- Horizon Hobby, LLC.
- Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Coach
- King Schools
- Unmanned Safety Institute
- First Person View (FPV) Freedom Coalition
- Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association
- Academy of Model Aeronautics
- Drone Racing League [1]
These organizations are to give instructions to the FAA on how to improve the safety test administration requirements. With their recommendations, the FAA will improve the final criteria that future test administrators are to meet. The test must either be conducted electronically by the FAA, community-based organizations, or other FAA-designated individuals or institutions. The FAA aims to work with third-party organizations that will permit them to regulate the knowledge training and test content on an array of media for the creational flyer community.
Many UAS or drones can still be flown with hardly any training or knowledge of aviation regulations or safety procedures, despite FAA regulations for drones already in place. References such as Section 44809 of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 [2] educates current and future recreational drone flyers on UAS safety practices and guidelines. The test requirements and other related criteria will be announced on FAA.gov for test administrators.
If you’d like to learn more about the FAA’s test for recreational drone flying or you’re looking for the best flight dispatcher jobs on the market, contact a member of our staff at the Sheffield School of Aeronautics at 954-581-6022 today!
Sources:
[1] Federal Aviation Administration – Recreational Drone Flying Aeronautical Test Moves Forward
[2] Federal Register – Exception for Limited Recreational Operations of Unmanned Aircraft
