The Professional Society of Drone Journalists

2001 Sheffield Road

Oklahoma City, OK 73210
Dronejournalism.org

Dear Mr. Mickey Osterreicher, Esq.,

The board members of the Professional Society of Drone Journalists (PSDJ) thanks you for your
longstanding support of journalists worldwide, through your leadership of the National Press
Photographers Association, your history of defending photojournalists, and your belief in the
rights of the free press to use unmanned aircraft systems. We congratulate you on your recent
appointment to the Federal Aviation Administrations Advisory Rulemaking Committee (ARC)
for Beyond Visual Line Of Site (BVLOS) UAS operations.
As we discussed in previous emails, the PSDJ is grateful to submit recommendations and
evidence to inform this critical part of the FAAs rulemaking process. These recommendations
were approved by the PSDJ Board of Directors during its December 18 meeting. As our
members are most experienced with operating small UAS (sUAS) weighing less than 55 pounds,
please note that we only mean to propose rules governing BVLOS operation of sUAS at this
time.
Our recommendations for BVLOS regulations are as follows:
1) Both the Supreme Court (in Richmond Newspapers v. Virginia) and the Seventh Circuit Court
(in ACLU of Illinois v. Alvarez) have recognized the First Amendment grants the public the right
to record public events. Additionally, as was stated by the FAA itself in its final privacy
requirements for UAS test sites (Docket No. FAA-2013-0061), the FAAs mission first and
foremost is to provide the safest, most efficient aerospace system in the world and does not
include regulating privacy. As such, the FAA should make no rule that restricts the press from
gathering or publishing the photographic or other sensory data collected by sUAS based on
privacy concerns alone.
2) The FAA is required, according to the Federal Aviation Act of 1958, not only to provide for
the safe and efficient use of the airspace by both civil and military aircraft, but also to give
consideration to the public right of freedom of transit through the navigable airspace. ( Sec.
306). As such, the FAA should not promulgate rules that infringe on the rights of journalists to
have freedom of transit for their UAS, or must at least not infringe on that right beyond what is
reasonably required for a safe and efficient airspace system.
3) To regulate the use of the air below safe navigable altitude (navigable airspace) violates the
property owners right to make use of his or her land, and constitutes a navigation easement (see
United States v. Causby). Additionally, the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 gives the FAA
Administrator authority only to formulate policy for navigable airspace (Sec. 307(a)). As such,
FAA should make no rule that restricts journalists from flying small UAS over private land,
below safe navigable altitude for manned aircraft, when they have received permission from the
land owner to do so. The FAA should only promulgate sUAS BVLOS rules for flights in
controlled airspace.
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The Professional Society of Drone Journalists

2001 Sheffield Road
Oklahoma City, OK 73210
Dronejournalism.org

4) All rules promulgated concerning UAS, BVLOS or otherwise, should be based on the risk to
the National Airspace System (NAS). If the ARC lacks a risk model based in actuarial science, it
should seek the guidance of an independent, actuarial expert to assess the risk of accident in real,
mathematical and financial terms. (See for example Lum, C., Waggoner, B. A Risked Based
Paradigm and Model for Unmanned Aerial Systems in the National Airspace System, presented
at Infotech Aerospace 2011, 29-31 March, 2011. Retrieved from
http://arc.aiaa.org/doi/abs/10.2514/6.2011-1424)
5) The distance the UAS operator is from the aircraft does not, in and of itself, make the UAS air
unworthy. Rather, what affects the risk of the operation is the quality of the control link and
the situational awareness compromised by distance to the aircraft. Therefore, any sUAS airframe
that is cleared to fly within VLOS of the operator, below 400 feet AGL of unpopulated areas or
below 1,000 feet AGL of populated areas, should still be airworthy flown BVLOS at the same
altitude.
6) As control link quality and situational awareness are of primary concern with BVLOS
operations, airworthiness for sUAS should focus on the strength and fidelity of the control signal,
aids that enhance the operators ability to sense and avoid other aircraft, the airworthiness and
integrity of the vehicle, and mechanisms to recall the aircraft in the event of a control link loss.
Therefore, BVLOS sUAS should be equipped with a) an ADS-B transponder, b) a control link
using frequency-hopping transceivers of a sufficient power to maintain contact throughout the
flight, and c) software and/or hardware to enable a return to VLOS range in the event of a control
link loss. Additionally, the pilot in command must at all times have the appropriate information
to determine altitude, heading, speed and geographic coordinates of the sUAS. At least one
person affiliated with any BVLOS sUAS operation (who is not necessarily the pilot in command)
must have an ADS-B receiver and display capable of monitoring air traffic within 10 nautical
miles of the sUAS, and must also have a device capable of communicating with the nearest air
traffic control.
7) The expected training of the sUAS operator for BVLOS flights conducted under safe altitude
for manned aircraft should match the skills required to pilot the sUAS, and the sUAS alone,
safely. Therefore, no private pilots license for manned aircraft should be required, as this
training traditionally does not educate individuals on the intricacies and differences in small
unmanned aircraft. Training in a Cessna 172 Skyhawk, for example, tells the student nothing
more about operating a small hexcopter-type UAS than would small hexcopter training tell a
student about how to operate a Cessna 172. Only the logged time operating the designated sUAS,
or an aircraft of similar type and size, should determine whether a pilot is adequately trained to
fly sUAS. However, sUAS pilots should pass ground school (14 CFR Part 141 Training) in order
to learn about the national airspace system, and how to communicate with air traffic control, and
general aeronautical knowledge, in the unlikely event the sUAS malfunctions during flight.
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The Professional Society of Drone Journalists

2001 Sheffield Road
Oklahoma City, OK 73210
Dronejournalism.org

8) In order to ensure accountability of operators, the sUAS must clearly display the current
contact information of the operator. Additionally, it is required that either the sUAS or ground
control station record data of the entire duration of the flight, including the altitude, location, and
status of the vehicles batteries.
9) Finally, we propose BVLOS operations should be defined by a set distance of 1,000
horizontal feet between the operator and the aircraft. Such a rule is consistent with the FAAs
having clearly defined a minimum safe altitude for flight in terms of a real, measurable number
(14 CFR Part 91.119) This provides unambiguous regulatory guidance for UAS operators and
prevents any potential misunderstanding that could impact the safety of the NAS.
The PSDJ thanks you for your time and attention on this, and wishes you success on the FAA
ARC for BVLOS Operations.
Sincerely,
Matthew Schroyer
President, USA
Ian Hannah
Vice President, Canada
Caleb Scott
Board Member, USA
Parker Gyokeres
Board Member, USA