NAAA Defends Ag Aviators from Hazardous UAS Tower Inspection Operations

This week, NAAA participated in an FAA Safety Risk Management (SRM) panel to ensure the panel understands the dangers small UAS operating close to towers can present to manned agricultural aircraft. The goal of the panel was to determine if the procedures used by two tower companies who use UAS for tower inspections could be safely adopted by other companies seeking to conduct these types of operations. The procedures, approved by FAA, allow these two companies, B+T Group and American Tower, to conduct their operations in controlled airspace without notifying the local Air Traffic Control (ATC) facilities. The operations are conducted within 100 feet horizontally and vertically of the tower.

All tower inspections are conducted under 14 CFR Part 107, which requires UAS to always yield right of way to manned aircraft.  The concept of operations (CONOPS) for both companies currently conducting these operations was shared with the panel. B+T Group’s CONOPS reiterated that manned aircraft always have the right of way. American Tower’s CONOPS did not specify this, but discussions during the panel reviewed that this is their policy, as it is legally required by Part 107. NAAA recommended that all CONOPS for current and future UAS tower inspections specifically state that manned aircraft always have the right of way. This suggestion was due to the potential for confusion between the existing CONOPS and proposed BVLOS recommendations developed by a 2022 FAA Aviation Rulemaking Committee, which proposed allowing UAS to operate without detect and avoid technological equipment or being required to give right of way to manned aircraft within 100 feet of shield areas, which includes towers. 

During the hazard identification phase of the panel, NAAA, along with AOPA and HAI, made sure the risk of the UAS impacting a low-flying manned aircraft operating near a tower was listed on the SRM’s hazard analysis. When an FAA panel member stated that because these tower inspection operations are all conducted under 14 CFR Part 107, which requires the UAS to give right of way, a collision between UAS and manned aircraft is not a hazard, NAAA quickly refuted the suggestion. NAAA pointed out a recent collision between a drone and helicopter and a near miss in Arkansas last year are evidence that despite Part 107 requiring right of way be given to manned aircraft, the law is not always followed and a hazard classification is justified. 

Two potential effects from this hazard were listed, the first being a mid-air collision between the manned aircraft and UAS and the second being a collision between the manned aircraft and the tower itself. This second effect could be a potential outcome should a UAS force a manned aircraft into evasive maneuvers near a tower. Both effects were assigned a severity level of catastrophic in the hazard assessment. NAAA cited preliminary data from FAA’s Center of Excellence for UAS Research study on low-altitude traffic and obstacles study conducted by the University of North Dakota and the Mississippi State University to document how close agricultural aircraft operation to towers and other obstacles. 

The SRM panel’s activities were postponed on the second day of the meetings to a yet unknown date in order to sort out some FAA procedural issues. Regardless of when the SRM panel resumes, NAAA has been added to the list of stakeholders and will be involved in  future meetings.