FAA Certificate OKs Drone Tests

CREST HAVEN – A new era of unmanned flight became a reality in Cape May County Jan. 24. That’s when the Federal Aviation Administration approved a “Public Use COA” (certificate of authorization) that allows the county to operate an RS-20 unmanned aerial system (UAS) over the southern peninsula of the county and Delaware Bay.  
The announcement came at the Feb. 17 Innovation Forum held at the  County Administration Building.
American Aerospace Technologies, a Pennsylvania company, applied to the FAA for the COA in May 2016. The recently-approved COA that authorizes drone flights in a specific area of the county permits UAS flight operations that go beyond current low altitude restricted test areas; the Cape May County Office of Economic Development has worked towards achieving this milestone for the past few years. 
The preliminary plan for UAS use here is to provide real-time streaming of aerial assessments of damage caused by natural or man-made disasters, as well as improved communications capabilities for “first responders” during and immediately after massive incidents such as storms, floods and other significant threats to public safety requiring an immediate response from the government.
There are also plans to coordinate with the Coast Guard in search-and-rescue (SAR) operations in the future.
Specifically, the certificate granted by the FAA states in part “Operation of the AATI RS-20, Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) in Class E and G airspace from the surface to 7,000 feet MSL in the vicinity of Cape May County, NJ under the jurisdiction of Atlantic City Approach Control (ACY) and Dover Radar Approach Control (DOV).” 
COA is valid from Jan. 25, 2017 through Jan. 24, 2019. 
This area was chosen by American Aerospace Technologies to ensure that any search-and-rescue, or other disaster response within the entire peninsula and Cape May County would be covered by the COA.
This COA may be expanded to cover other counties or sections of counties in the future.
With a wing span of 17’13”, the AATI RS-20 drone is capable of long endurance flights of over 12 non-stop hours with a 65-pound payload at speeds of 90 knots.
David Yoel, founder, and CEO of American Aerospace recounted that in the last two years, his company had initiated five test flights over Cape May County.
Yoel anticipates that there will be no noticeable increase in the frequency of UAS activity right away, but he expects that his firm will increase operations to one to two “projects” per month. 
Each project usually involves multiple flights over a four to five-day period.
Yoel went on to say that the COA requires specific safety protocols that ensure that other air traffic is protected against mid-air collisions.
Prior to each flight event, the FAA publishes a “notice to airmen” that provides warning to any pilot who plans to transit the designated airspace; in this case, the area extends south from Ocean City to, and across the Delaware Bay, and includes all of the southern peninsula to an altitude of 7,000 feet.
During the course of the flight, the pilot in command of the drone announces his position and status to all general aviation pilots over the standard radio system that all pilots use at airports that do not have air traffic controllers. Cape May County is not a controlled airport. That means pilots must personally be aware of their surroundings.
Yoel stated “What’s important is that the UAS provides persistence (longevity of flight over 12 hours), removing a pilot from risk and that the payload can provide needed communications and visual live stream data to emergency responders with no risk to other responders seeking damage assessments.
“Although drone usage in this area will be limited to public safety applications, for now, other uses may include bridge inspections, pipeline inspections and other commercial and government uses.” 
Yoel stated that his company’s involvement consists of leasing the UAS aircraft to the government and providing the pilots and ground services to the users.
He anticipates that his company alone intends to add 10 jobs to the Cape May Airport facility in the future.
Martin Pagliughi, county director of the Office of Emergency Management, explained that his office would organize a training exercise this spring that will test their ability to operate the drone to enhance high bandwidth communications in emergency management applications.
He anticipates that in the future, when all public safety agencies in the county begin participating in the county-wide 700 Mhz dispatch system, that the drone may be able to create a reliable public safety communications system that covers the entire county.
This Innovation Forum was one in a series of forums that attracts stakeholders throughout the county, including emergency managers, police and first responders, representatives of the Atlantic Cape Community College, the FAA,  and private sector entrepreneurs.
To contact Jim McCarty, email jmccarty@cmcherald.com.