Forbes Contributor Calls FAA's Stipulation 'Ludicrous'

A recent FAA decision to allow a real estate developer to use UAVs to photograph properties ... a commercial use ... carries the stipulation that the operator of the aircraft hold at least a Private Pilot Certificate.

That requirement, at least according to one commentator, is "ludicrous."

Writing in an Op-Ed piece for Forbes, contributor John Goglia said that to require a person to hold a PPL and a third-class medical certificate to fly an aircraft that weighs under three pounds is "absurd."

Goglia points out that the control interfaces of the Phantom 2+ Vision authorized by the FAA and a small airplane have nothing in common, and that learning to control an airplane would not give the UAV operator any insight into how to safely fly his or her small UAV. And, he writes, Ultralight pilots are not required to have any kind of pilot certificate, Sport Pilots don't need a medical certificate to fly, and students working towards a private pilot certificate are not required to have a license to fly solo.

Goglia suggests that if the FAA is insistent on some kind of training for UAV operation, they could have picked something less burdensome ... such as basic ground school and a student pilot certificate so that the operator has some basic knowledge of airspace operations.

We tend to agree.

FMI: www.faa.gov