F.A.A.’s Concerns Hold Up Use of Wildfire Drones

As wildfire season begins in Western landscapes that were covered in smoky haze for weeks at a time last summer, the federal government’s firefighters are exploring the use of small remote-controlled drones with infrared cameras that could map a fire’s size and speed, and identify hot spots, a particular danger. With a maximum wingspan of about 52 inches, the drones would supplement and perhaps replace manned surveillance aircraft, potentially reducing the risk to both pilots and firefighters. But the effort is being slowed by Federal Aviation Administration regulations. The use of drones in open airspace is regulated by the F.A.A., and its safety requirements effectively preclude unmanned aerial systems, or U.A.S.’s, from operating out of sight of a ground-based pilot. If distance or the smoke of a wildfire obscures a drone from observers on the ground, a piloted aircraft must be sent aloft to keep an eye on it. “In terms of federal regulations right now, we can’t use U.A.S.’s out there except on a very limited basis,” said Ron Hanks, the aviation safety and training officer at the federal Forest Service. Rusty Warbis, the flight operations manager at the Bureau of Land Management, said the process of approving individual trial flights was “cumbersome,” though improving. The Army has lent the Interior Department 41 small drone aircraft that have been used for environmental monitoring, including tracking migratory wildfowl. The Forest Service, part of the Department of Agriculture, has also been studying drone use for years...more