![]() Potential advantages to choosing to operate as a Public Aircraft Operator include additional options to meet certification and training requirements. This allowance to operate under either or both set of rules and regulations grants government entities with a great deal of flexibility. ![]() In short, a government entity may choose to conduct a public aircraft operation within the restrictions of the public aircraft statute (and certain civil regulations applicable to all aircraft operating in the NAS), or it may choose to conduct a civil operation and comply with the requirements of the applicable regulations in 14 CFR. Additionally, Part 107 allows government entities to operate as either Civil Operators or Public Aircraft Operations, Government entities may elect to operate as Civil Operators, following the Part 107 regulations, or as Public Aircraft Operations. Since the new Small UAS Rule, “Operation and Certification of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems”, (Part 107) was released Jand became effective August 29, 2016, public entities have an additional option available to them with respect to drone use. ![]() However, government entities also face some additional challenges such public education, justification for using taxpayer resources, operational requirements that often dictate use at any hour of the day or night in response to public safety needs. Government entities face many of the same challenges as the private sector including developing operations procedures, pilot in command training and learning to operate safely in the National Airspace System (NAS). While the focus and attention has been primarily on commercial uses, government entities are also moving quickly to embrace drone use for everything from increased situational awareness in public safety operations to inspections of utilities and infrastructure. There is little argument that drones are truly a disruptive technology. New uses are being developed on an almost daily basis. Interest in using drones for a wide variety of tasks has skyrocketed (no pun intended) in the last couple of years. College Station recently established a small unmanned aircraft system (sUAS) program and Ben helped navigate the Public COA process, so he has a lot useful information to share. In this article, we’ve asked Ben Roper, IT Director for the City of College Station, Texas to provide some information for governmental entities considering UAS operations as Public Aircraft Operators. And while public organizations have the opportunity to send their individual remote pilots through the Part 107 certification, they also have the opportunity to apply for what’s called a Public COA. We’ve been getting a lot of questions about how public organizations like fire and police departments should think about integrating sUAS into their operations. ![]()
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