FAA Cancels RC Aircraft Guidelines from 33 Years Ago!

FAA wants to start enforcing new laws regulating the use of model and remote control aircraft. 

 

The FAA has cancelled the 33-year-old advisory circular that sets out voluntary standards that most radio control model enthusiasts follow and aims to replace it with a set of enforceable regulations. On Oct. 10 Gary Norek, manager of the Airspace Policy and Regulations Group, applied to the agency's Performance, Policy and Records Management to cancel Advisory Circular (AC) 91-57, the document that until then asked hobbyists to keep their aircraft below 400 feet and not fly them near airports.

The AC was issued in 1981 and was created to give the emerging RC hobby some framework for their activities. It became a self-enforced set of standards that the majority of those involved in the hobby voluntarily adhered to through the clubs and organizations many belong to. In the modern context, however, those voluntary guidelines also applied to the millions of people who now fly small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) for personal use and therein lay the rub.

 The FAA now says the old model airplane guidelines are superseded by a section of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act which also "provides guidance to the model aircraft industry." The difference is that the new regs also include enforcement and penalty provisions that allow the FAA to investigate and sanction those who run afoul of the reg. The memo also indicates the FAA is planning to issue a new advisory circular to cover hobbyists. Meanwhile, according to Motherboard, the new regs are being challenged by at least three lawsuits.

It will be interesting to see what these new rules and penalties are for violators.

Article first appeared in AvWeb