THE NEW FLIGHT RULES

The debacle that followed the 2019 roll out of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA’s) original Remote Identification (RID) plan seems to have prompted some reflection within the agency. Not only was the revised RID rule released in late 2020 much more in line with industry expectations (see the April issue of RotorDrone Pro for more details), but the agency also went further by concurrently releasing an expansion of operations permitted under 14 CFR Part 107.

The FAA’s ostensible reason for these changes was that by creating greater accountability, RID allowed the agency to permit remote pilots more freedom to operate at night and over people. However, if you look at the timing of the new regulations, you don’t need to be a cynical, world-weary reporter to be a little bit skeptical about that explanation.

These new Part 107 rules went into final effect in April 2021, and yet the soonest RID will have any appreciable impact on the industry is likely to be September 2022, when all new drones sold in the U.S. will be required to incorporate an internal RID capability. And it won’t come into full force until September 2023. So, why is the FAA being so generous?

First, because they believe that it is safe to do so. Remote pilots have been flying at night with waivers for years now, and yet there has not been a single reported instance of a conflict with a crewed aircraft. That’s a safety record the agency can use to justify a change in the Part 107 daylight-only requirement. As regards operations over people, there has been a lot of research performed over that same period, demonstrating what the real dangers are—and aren’t.

With that said, I can’t help but think that the FAA had another reason for pushing out these revisions to Part 107 alongside the final RID rule: they are intended to sweeten the deal. As noted child-rearing expert Mary Poppins once observed, “A spoonful of sugar helps