In light of this week's failed plot againt the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol with remote-controlled model planes packed with explosives, the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) cautions the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) against implementing burdensome regulations that could potentially set back the safe integration of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) by 2015 as currently written in the pending FAA Reauthorization Bills (H.R. 658, S. 223).
The FAA also is devising new rules, via a federal aviation rulemaking process, for the safe integration of small UAS in the National Airspace System (NAS) with an anticipated integration deadline of 2013.
AUVSI continues to support this effort and hopes this incident does not affect the FAA's current timeline.
AUVSI feels we need more intelligence not more regulation and concur with Rep. John Mica (R., Fla.), chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, when he stated that although model aircraft could be attractive to terrorists, the way to combat that problem is through better intelligence.
Michael Toscano, president and CEO of AUVSI, stated, "we remain committed to assisting the FAA in developing solutions to this complex issue and we look forward to our continued work with the FAA on ensuring safe integration of UAS into the National Airspace System."
