GAO’s report on FAA drone integration strategy: You can do better

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has delivered its report on the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) efforts to integrate drones into the national airspace and its methods of processing requests for operations not covered by Part 107 rules. The main conclusions of the audit are the regulator needs to do better in both establishing and communicating a comprehensive strategy for broader UAV use, and in defining a uniform procedure for issuing waivers.

In preparing its study, the GAO consulted FAA planning documents and internal reports on drone integration, and interviewed agency officials and participants in the regulator’s pilot programs. It also consulted 15 industry groups representing manufacturers, operators, and other stakeholders who’d partaken in FAA rule-making advisory committees. 

The main message the GAO came away with is the drone integration strategy the FAA presented as comprehensive remains incomplete, and that methods…