The FAA's Part 107 And The Micro UAS Advisory Committee

The year 2016 has been a big year for drones, due largely to the release from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of its Part 107 regulations of commercial small unmanned aircraft systems (weighing less than 55 pounds). In this article, I will discuss three important drone developments in 2016: the implementation of Part 107; the risk to hobbyists of not complying with Part 101 and, thus, coming under the requirements of Part 107 (and potential FAA penalties); and the convening of the Micro Unmanned Aircraft Systems Advisory Rulemaking Committee (Micro UAS ARC). I then conclude by looking forward to what can be expected from the FAA in 2017.

- Jeffrey Antonelli

Part 107 Developments

No story about 2016 would be complete without discussing the effect that Part 107 has had on the industry. As mentioned in previous Legal View columns, Part 107 has significantly reduced the entry barriers for individuals and companies looking to enter into the drone-services market.

The Section 333 program was somewhat helpful but was plagued with extremely long delays and the requirement of having a traditional manned aircraft pilot’s license. These two factors kept many small companies from what would otherwise be a robust and competitive market (or, at least, kept many from being in compliance).

Remote Pilot Certificate

Part 107 offers a much more affordable, reasonable licensing requirement from small-drone commercial operations: the Remote Pilot Certificate. This certificate requires that first-time pilots pay $150 to sit for a written exam and pass a TSA background check, and forgo having to go to an expensive flight school. Current Part 61 pilots have an even lower entry barrier to become a certified remote pilot; they merely need to take the FAA’s online course, which takes approximately two hours to complete.

The Part 107 Remote Pilot Certification process is not without its drawbacks. The FAA has received criticism from many folks, including the Small UAV Coalition, for not having a single study-guide source for applicants wishing to sit for the exam. The FAA has made more resources available to those wishing to sit for the exam, including a newly released Part 107 study guide and practice questions. But in many people’s opinions, there is still not a one-size-fits-all set of materials from which to study.

Part 107 Waivers