NBAA, VAI Critical of FAA Part 108 BVLOS Drone Rule

The FAA’s proposed Part 108 proposed rule for normalizing unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) beyond visual line of sight operations (BVLOS) “introduces significant changes to how aircraft share the low-altitude airspace where vertical flight operations routinely take place,” according to Vertical Aviation International (VAI).

While VAI supports safe integration of drones into the National Airspace System (NAS) and “recognizes the importance of advancing BVLOS operations for UAS,” it also said the “proposed rule relies on inaccurate assumptions about the low-altitude environment, proposes significant changes to long-standing right-of-way rules, and risks creating unnecessary hazards in the airspace.”

In comments to the proposed rule, VAI said, “Right-of-way rules must continue to protect the least maneuverable aircraft; manned aircraft should retain precedence over UAS within the right-of-way hierarchy.” It added, “Detect-and-avoid systems must include redundant, overlapping systems (including onboard broadcast receivers for UAS systems and visual and/or acoustic systems) as part of a phased approach to ensure reliable avoidance maneuvers upon the effective date of Part 108.”

Heidi Williams, NBAA v-p of air traffic services and infrastructure, said the association and its members have several concerns, “including the need for electronic conspicuity, or sharing of position, for all aircraft in the NAS.” Electronic conspicuity (EC) uses GNSS-dependent signals to provide position information about aircraft or UAS, but there is no widespread agreement about how this would be implemented.

According to Williams, “EC solutions must be interoperable within the NAS and among relevant user groups and must consider current and future technologies. ADS-B is one, but not the only means, of achieving effective EC. Industry standards could be used to identify appropriate means of achieving EC. Universal position sharing through EC across all aircraft in the NAS would also negate the need for complex changes to the existing right-of-way regulations, since UAS would simply detect and avoid all other aircraft.”

“VAI is generally supportive of EC,” a spokesperson for the association told AIN, “but it lacks the testing, certification, and reliability needed to wholly rely on the technology as a guaranteed method to detect and avoid. We're proposing a phased approach, in addition to testing EC devices at scale, before EC is relied upon as the sole method to detect other aircraft.”

“UAS must be required to carry onboard broadcast-receiving capabilities for direct aircraft-to-aircraft deconfliction and employ additional redundant systems throughout the NAS—such as visual, acoustic, or operational mitigations—that ensure immediate and assured avoidance,” VAI added. “A phased approach is necessary until system performance and equipage rates demonstrate that reliance on a single technology can be done safely.”