BVLOS ARC Report Drone Industry Accessibility Inclusion

BVLOS ARC Gives Nod to Drone Industry Accessibility and Inclusion

By: Dawn Zoldi

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recently released its Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) final report. Weighing in at almost 400 pages, the document is full of surprises – including a hat tip to the need to increase accessibility in the drone industry.

About one-third of the way into the report, recommendation OQ 2.16 – UAS Pilot Medical Qualification states, “The FAA should develop tailored medical qualifications for UAS pilots and other crew positions that consider greater accessibility and redundancy options available to UAS.”

The ARC specifically recommended that the FAA develop tailored medical qualifications for UAS pilots and other crew members that reflect the reduced physical requirements for flying UA, while ensuring appropriate standards of overall health necessary to perform UA crew duties….