Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Their Future Impact

            Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have become a progressively growing part of aviation in current society. It has developed from a military technology into a recreational civilian toy. Currently, the civilian market is booming with drones and their capabilities. If you walk down the toy isle in any store you are likely to see small drones, and some can even be controlled by a person’s smart phone. Additionally, larger scale drones have been coupled with a GoPro, and have been used to receive remarkable footage. This footage has been used as an alternative for companies to survey their equipment that would otherwise be difficult and dangerous to inspect. UAVs are currently not allowed to be piloted in controlled airspace. However, there currently has been a notice of proposed rule making (NPRM) for Unmanned Aircraft Operations in the National Airspace System (NAS). This document has numerous regulations regarding how civilians can fly their UAVs, and also proposed rules for operating in the NAS.  Some of the overarching rules would include the Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS), the term the FAA uses for UAVs, must weigh less than 55 lbs. Furthermore, they must operate 5 nautical miles away from an airport with an operating control tower, 3 nautical miles from an uncontrolled airport with an instrument approach procedure, and 2 nautical miles from all other airports, heliports, and seaports. They also must operate at or below 200 feet AGL. Additionally, there are other regulations that are less overarching included in this document for civilian UAS pilots. Lastly, the notice provides a method in which UAS pilots would be able to operate in the NAS with their own set of procedures and responsibilities (FAA, 2015).

            I do see UAVs being integrated into the NAS. With companies such as Amazon implementing deliveries with UAVs, I find it hard to believe that UAV use to expand companies’ capabilities wont become more common. As companies begin to expand their reach utilizing UAVs, it will become necessary to implement them in the NAS to continue to provide proper separation and a safe operating environment. With the rules outlined in the FAA’s NPRM, I believe they have created a good platform in which to start implementing UAVs into the NAS. Some problems that may arise from the implementation of UAVs in the NAS is setting effective requirements to train UAV pilots to know the regulations and safely operate in the NAS. Additionally, when implementing a totally new idea there will be numerous unforeseen issues that can cause accidents or interfere with manned aircraft. Many of our current regulations were written because of fatalities. It is a common saying that the regulations are “written in blood” because of that reason. So with the implementation of an entirely new concept I would imagine there would be fatalities while the nuances of implementing UAVs into the NAS is figured out. Lastly, with the only view of the UAV pilot being the camera, and not having the same training as pilots in traditional aircraft there would be a perception of them being inferior to the traditional pilot. Traditional pilots would view the UAV pilots as unsafe until they have a track record proving otherwise.

            While the technology for UAVs is new, the concept of unmanned aircraft to reduce casualties is a concept seen all the way back to World War I. Over the years the sophistication of the unmanned aircraft have increased, as well as, their effectiveness. “UAVs are divided by class category. During operations where more than one system is available, UAV systems can be task organized and class categories selected to achieve the required flexibility and capability.” (Global Security, 2015). The Department of Defense’s (DOD) categories are UAV-Close Range (UAV-CR) with an operational range of approximately 50 kilometers, UAV-Short Range (UAV-SR) with a flight duration of 8 to 10 hours designed to penetrate into enemy airspace out to a range of 200 kilometers with datalink, and UAV-Endurance (UAV-E) with a minimum of 24 hour coverage and be capable of performing multiple missions simultaneously (Global Security, 2015). These different types of UAVs have allowed for the U.S. military to broaden the scope of missions they task to their drones. Their integration has been efficient by limiting the risk involved with having a human in the cockpit over hostile territory. Additionally, the training to be a UAV pilot is shorter and less expensive than that of training a traditional pilot. However, without having to put a pilot in danger it has created an environment where it’s easier to send a drone in versus a manned aircraft. This may lead to more aggressive strategies. Furthermore, not having actual eyes on the target can create issues and has the potential to increase collateral damage. Although as technology and munitions improve the likelihood of collateral damage decreases with the increased situational awareness of the UAV pilot.

            After a simple Google search for UAV jobs I was able to find UAV coach, http://uavcoach.com/uav-jobs/. UAV coach is a drone enthusiast community. Additionally, it provides a search engine that has 1,605 jobs across the United States for UAV operators, pilots, and engineers. (Alan, 2016)

References

Alan. (2016, February 14). UAV Jobs: Careers in the Drone Industry. Retrieved from http://uavcoach.com/uav-jobs/

FAA. (2015, November 25). Unmanned Aircraft Operations in the National Airspace System (NAS). Retrieved from http://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Notice/Notice_UAS_7210.891.pdf

Global Security. (2015, November 4). Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Retrieved from http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/systems/uav-intro.htm

Flight and Duty Regulations and the Differences Between the Airlines and Cargo Carriers

As a result of the findings from the Colgan Air accident the FAA instituted many new regulations. One of the major regulations that were changed involved flight and duty time. The new rules pertaining to commercial passenger flights is multi faceted. The FAA limited the flight time to eight or nine hours depending on when the day started, a 10-hour minimum rest period that included 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep, and new cumulative flight duty and flight time limits by placing weekly and 28-day limits on how many times a pilot can be assigned any sort of flight duty (FAA, 2011). This is an improvement on the old regulation that only had an 8-hour rest period that had no stipulation on how the pilot must use that rest period, other than not for any type of flight duty. Additionally, under the old regulation pilots were allowed to be on duty up to 16 hours straight. However, with these old regulations there were numerous crashes due to unfit pilots. FAA Acting Administrator Huerta stated, “Every pilot has a personal responsibility to arrive at work fit for duty. This new rule gives pilots enough time to get the rest they really need to safely get passengers to their destinations.” (FAA, 2011).

While the new duty rest periods have greatly enhanced the quality of life for airline pilots, the cargo carriers fall outside of these regulations. This leaves the cargo pilots operating under worse conditions than the airline pilots. “Under the new rules, passenger pilots can only work nine hours if any of their flights are at night. But cargo pilots can work 16 hours.” (Pegues, 2015). This longer workday is compounded with the fact that most cargo pilots are flying at night against their natural circadian rhythm. “A year and a half ago, UPS Airlines Flight 1354 crashed in Birmingham, Alabama. Both pilots were killed and the plane narrowly missed a neighborhood. Flight 1354's captain Cerea Beal told a colleague that his flight schedule was killing him.” (Pegues, 2015). These types of accidents are unacceptable and the FAA has implemented a solution, but excluded the cargo carriers from having to implement it. This lack of implementation of the proper safety standards is egregious.

            Cargo carriers are excluded from the new changes because of the cost and lost revenue. The lobbyists were able to convince lawmakers that the cost of implementing these changes would not have enough of a safety improvement. “The FAA, meanwhile, has revised its economic rationale behind exempting cargo pilots, saying it would cost the industry $550 million to comply, outweighing safety benefits. Originally, it said the rules would cost an additional $214 million”. (Carroll, 2014). The FAA has followed suit in this theory that the safety benefits do not warrant such a price tag. However, this thinking is ludicrous and is perpetuated by the fact that if a cargo carrier crashes there are fewer souls on board that would parish compared to an airline crash. When it comes to overall pilot safety this is not a viable solution for cargo pilots. “Capt. Lee Moak, president of the Air Line Pilots Association International, which represents almost 50,000 pilots at 31 airlines, including UPS competitor FedEx, said that ‘it is becoming more apparent that separate rest requirements for cargo and passenger pilots is unsustainable, unsupportable, and unconscionable.’” (Carroll, 2014).

            I believe that cargo carriers should be included in the new rules. The cargo pilots would greatly benefit from the implementation of the new regulation. However, that’s not to say that there aren’t new issues that arise with how the cargo operators fly versus the airlines. There should be a distinction between the two types of operators. However, while those issues get hashed out the new flight and duty regulations for the airlines is a great place to start for the cargo carriers. The distinction should be made between the two types of operators because they need to take into account the types of flying the cargo operators do, which is mostly at night. There should be some studies done on how operating under the new rules mainly at night affects the pilots and adjust from there.

            This new rule would impact my long-term goal of being a pilot for FedEx. The increase of rest for pilots will greatly improve the quality of my life while working for FedEx. Additionally, it will allow cargo pilots the best environment to operate efficiently and safely. Lastly, it would remove the negative stigma associated with flying freight by improving the typical day as a cargo pilot.  Without the stigma, becoming a cargo pilot would be more attractive to new pilots, and would increase the potential pilots for cargo operations.

References

Carroll, J. R. (2014, March 13). UPS pilots urge more rest for cargo crews. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/03/13/ups-pilots-urge-more-rest-for-cargo-crews/6402615/

FAA. (2011, December 21). Press Release – FAA Issues Final Rule on Pilot Fatigue. Retrieved from https://www.faa.gov/news/press_releases/news_story.cfm?newsId=13272

Pegues, J. (2015, February 24). Investigation: Why are cargo pilots excluded from new rest rules? Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com/news/investigation-why-are-cargo-pilots-excluded-from-new-rest-rules/