During the first day of this important event, Dallas Brooks from Wing, and Jeffrey Vincent from the FAA provided an extensive and comprehensive update on the activities of the Drone Safety Team (DST) over the past year.

The DST was re-launched during Commercial UAV Expo 2023 by Mr. Brooks and Mr. Vincent, exactly 12 months ago, in an effort to rescue this important collaboration between industry and the regulator. Today, they were able to report a busy and important year to a large room of members and non-members alike.

The brief began by describing to the audience the first “mini plenary” that took place in Virginia at the end of March. During this initial meeting members of the DST gathered in person and remotely to decide on the best course of action to move forward in the most expeditious manner possible.

According to Mr. Brooks, the members agreed on a mission statement for the organization which is “The Drone Safety Team is an industry-government partnership committed to ensuring the safe operations of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) in the National Airspace System (NAS).”

Based on this mission statement and the need to expedite the effectiveness of the DST, the members decided to create two working groups that immediately began working on their respective responsibilities.

The Drone Safety Data Working Group. Lead by Noran Abraham D.Eng. of the Center for Advanced Aviation System Development (CAASD) will be focusing on the gathering of UAS safety data in order to create a Drone Data Analysis System (DDAS) that would increase safety in the NAS.

“The idea is to analyze safety data to identify emerging threats that UAS may pose to aircraft, people and property.” Ms. Abraham said during her presentation.

According to Ms. Abraham, both industry and the regulator will benefit by:

Regulator:

  • Enhanced data collection and analysis.
  • Enhanced safety for the public.
  • Resource optimization.

Industry:

  • Operational performance.
  • Safety assurance.
  • Knowledge sharing and best practices.

“The DDAS in NOT another data analysis effort or research paper. The DDAS is a cornerstone for an automated UAS data analysis pipeline using advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) models and research to deliver scalable, faster, and more insightful safety intelligence.” Ms. Abrahm concluded.

The Drone SMS Working Group, led by Nancy Graham (Co-Chair) and Jason Starke (Co-Chair) together with Kelsey Muka acting as Government Lead. Mr. Starke was chosen to brief the audience and during his presentation we learned that, during their initial meeting in September 2023, three companies volunteered to present how they implemented their Safety Management Systems (SMS), all of them approved by the FAA.

“More detailed SMS implementation guidance is needed to support commercial drone operators with the tools, processes and checklists they need to implement sound and compliant SMS practices within their organizations. Such guidance, as with the previous DST report, should support all levels of commercial drone operations, from basic Part 107 Line-of-Sight operations through BVLOS operations (under waiver or upcoming rule) and ultimately what are now Part 135 operations, but which may be in the future be covered under new rulemaking.” Said Mr. Starke.

It was clear that the two working groups are aimed at creating a safety culture in the new uncrewed aviation community by analyzing safety data, perhaps in the examination of accident and incident reports and then extending these lessons to the safety management systems of the different actors in the commercial drone operation sphere.

The brief ended with a Q&A session in which various members requested further clarification of the work done during the past year and the plans for 2025.