A few weeks ago the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) sent a questionnaire to each person who has registered a commercial drone—that is, for purposes other than recreational or hobby use. The survey also included those registered under government departments and first responders. The FAA’s goal is to collect information on drone flight activities under Part 107 (the Small Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Rule) to help the FAA improve the services it delivers to the UAS community at large. The FAA hopes to encourage participation by limiting the questionnaire to about 10 minutes to complete.
The questions include information related to:
- Number of drones registered
- Number and types of missions completed in 2017
- Primary locations where the operator flies
- Types of waivers requested
- How operators want to get information from the FAA about drone-related issues
- How satisfied operators are with the new channels the FAA now uses.
The FAA encourages all drone operators who have yet to complete the survey to do so soon. We will report back on the results of this questionnaire and how it might help shape the FAA’s goals over the next phase of UAS integration into the national airspace.