PACI Selected by the FAA for BVLOS Rulemaking Committee

PACI, Inc is very proud to represent Technology/Network Infrastructure interests as a member of the newly-announced Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Beyond Visual Line-of-Sight (BVLOS) Operations Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC).

PACI was one of the first eight companies to receive a Part 31/33 Waiver enabling commercial BVLOS flight operations.

The BVLOS ARC is chartered to help the Federal Aviation Administration develop a regulatory path for routine Beyond Visual Line of Sight operations. This rulemaking committee will consider the safety, security and environmental needs, as well as societal benefits, of these operations.

Jonathan Daniels, FASTM, founder and CEO, will serve as the PACI primary participant.

Read more about the BVLOS ARC here.

Post-COVID UAS Operations

Restrictions Lifted June 1

The Clark County local COVID-19 mitigation plan expired June 1, allowing for the return of pre-pandemic guidelines that lift restrictions involving capacity limits, large gatherings and more. Increasing vaccination rates, a low positivity rate and normal hospitalization rates all justify the lifting of restrictions. In the event that hospitalizations should rise, additional mitigation measures may be required for the protection of the community.

It remains important for people to follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance on wearing masks. Masks still must be worn in hospitals and healthcare facilities and on planes, buses, trains, and other forms of public transportation traveling into, within, or out of the United States, and in transportation hubs such as airports and stations.

CDC is announcing that it will be amending its Face Masks Order to not require people to wear a mask in outdoor areas of conveyances (if such outdoor areas exist on the conveyance) or while outdoors at transportation hubs. Therefore, masks are not required for vaccinated people conducting operations at the Searchlight Airpark.

CDC continues to recommend wearing of masks in these areas by people who are not fully vaccinated. Therefore, masks are required for not fully vaccinated people conducting operations at the Searchlight Airpark. We reserve the right to deny access to the Airport for anyone who does not wear a mask without restriction.

More guidance about masks is on the CDC’s website at https://www.cdc.gov/

ICAO Adopts New Standards for Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems and amends Chicago Convention

Montréal, 1 March 2021 – During its ongoing 222nd Session, the ICAO Council today adopted new and amended Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) driving important progress on the international safety and interoperability of remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS).

The new provisions will become effective on 12 July 2021, and applicable as of 26 November 2026. The most important pertain to Annex 8 — Airworthiness of Aircraft to the Chicago Convention, and cover certification requirements for remotely piloted aeroplanes and helicopters, in addition to the remote pilot stations (RPS) they are operated from.

The latest RPAS progress required minor modifications to Annexes 1 (Personnel Licensing) and 2 (Rules of the Air) of the Convention, and will eventually be supported by more substantial Annex 2 changes already in development. Previous Annex 1 Standards adopted by the Council in 2018 introduced a regulatory structure for the issuance of remote pilot licences for applicability as of November 2022.

Further information is available here

American Robotics Receives Historic Approval for BVLOS without Humans On-site After Testing at Searchlight Airport (1L3)

Detailed Testing of Detect and Avoid Capability at Searchlight Facility (2017, PACI, Inc)

American Robotics, a leading developer of fully-automated commercial drone systems, today became the first company approved by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to operate automated drones without human operators on-site.

The company’s Scout System™ features advanced acoustic Detect-and-Avoid (DAA) technology that enables its drones to maintain a safe distance from other aircraft at all times. By developing a layered, redundant system of safety that includes proprietary technical and operational risk mitigations,

After numerous flights at Searchlight, including under an Experimental Category Special Airworthiness Certificate and using the Praxis BVLOS 107.31/33 Waiver, American Robotics has proven that its drone-based aerial intelligence platform operates safely in the National Airspace System (NAS), even when it conducts flights Beyond-Visual-Line-of-Sight (BVLOS) of the operator.

PACI RPIC Supervising a Flight Under a 107.31/33 Waiver (2017, PACI, Inc)

Read their press release at this link.

Listen to an interview with Reese Mozer, American Robotics CEO, at this podcast.

Read more at Dronelife with this link, at JD Supra about their exemption here, as covered by Commercial UAV News here and a SlashGear here.

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