According to a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) published yesterday, the NTSB is proposing to amend 49 C.F.R. 830 concerning notification and reporting requirements with regard to aircraft accidents or incidents to require reporting of an “unmanned aircraft accident.” The amended rule would define an “unmanned aircraft accident” as “an occurrence associated with the operation of a public or civil unmanned aircraft that takes place between the time that the aircraft is activated with the purpose of flight and the time that the aircraft is deactivated at the conclusion of its mission, in which any person suffers death or serious injury, or in which the aircraft receives substantial damage.”
According to the NTSB, the NPRM’s additions to Part 830 will provide it with notification of events in which persons are injured or the aircraft sustains substantial damage and the reports will enable the NTSB “to conduct investigations, influence corrective actions, and propose safety recommendations with regard to unmanned aircraft in a timely manner.”
Comments to the NPRM are due no later than June 30, 2008. If you would like further information regarding the NPRM, you may contact Dana Schulze, Office of Aviation Safety, (202) 314-6323.
