Wed, Sep 26, 2012
Aerospace States Association Calls On FAA To Advance Test Site Program That Could Bring Jobs, Economic Investment To States
The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) applauded the Aerospace States Association’s (ASA) call Tuesday for the FAA to move forward with its Congressionally-mandated program to establish six test sites for the development of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).
In a letter to FAA Acting Administrator Michael Huerta, Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell, chairman of ASA, asked that the program move forward “without further delay” so as to avoid “losing ground in an industry poised to deliver on job creation.”
The test site program was included in legislation signed into law in February 2012, which, in part, requires the FAA to plan for the integration of UAS into the national airspace by 2015. However, the FAA missed a key program benchmark, when it failed to establish the test site program by 12 Aug. 2012. About 30 states have expressed interest in applying, and have already invested funding, time and effort in preparation to respond to the FAA’s anticipated announcement.
“We applaud ASA for continuing its work to ensure the U.S. remains a global leader in aerospace technology and help our industry create jobs," said Michael Toscano, AUVSI president & CEO, in a statement. "Not only will integrating UAS into the airspace help firefighters battle wildfires, search and rescue teams find missing persons and scientists research everything from hurricanes to wildlife, it will lead to quality, high-paying jobs for pilots, engineers, instructors, technicians and many others. The FAA test site program is critical to a safe and responsible integration, as well as bringing jobs and economic investment to the recipients of the test site designation. The FAA should open the site selection process without delay so we can move this technology forward while creating jobs.”
More News
Aero Linx: JAARS Nearly 1.5 billion people, using more than 5,500 languages, do not have a full Bible in their first language. Many of these people live in the most remote parts of>[...]
'Airplane Bounced Twice On The Grass Runway, Resulting In The Nose Wheel Separating From The Airplane...' Analysis: The pilot reported, “upon touchdown, the plane jumped back>[...]
"Burt is best known to the public for his historic designs of SpaceShipOne, Voyager, and GlobalFlyer, but for EAA members and aviation aficionados, his unique concepts began more t>[...]
"Polaris Dawn, the first of the program’s three human spaceflight missions, is targeted to launch to orbit no earlier than summer 2024. During the five-day mission, the crew >[...]
There Are SO Many Ways To Get YOUR Aero-News! It’s been a while since we have reminded everyone about all the ways we offer your daily dose of aviation news on-the-go...so he>[...]