The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is seeking feedback on its goal of developing a common global framework for managing drone flights in low altitude airspace.
ICAO said Wednesday that the unmanned aircraft systems traffic management program (UTM) will include the registration and identification of drones, also known by a number of other terms, including unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and remotely piloted aviation systems (RPAS). The UTM initiative is part of a program assigned to ICAO by its 191 member states.
Leslie Cary, ICAO’s RPAS program manager, said ICAO is requesting information on the priorities that must be addressed to develop safe and efficient UTM systems.
The requested information “will allow further developments to focus on better-defined issues, whether technical, operational or legal,” Cary said. “It will also ensure safety continues to remain the driving factor. ICAO is the natural agency to be gathering the best and brightest from governments and industry to define the problem so that global solutions can be proposed, debated and agreed.”
Cary added that, with the proliferation of new proposals for operations at low altitudes, “it’s in everyone’s interest to determine sooner rather than later how and where they can safely operate, so as to minimize all related noise and privacy concerns.”
Instructions on how to respond to the request for input are available at www.icao.int/DroneEnable. Responses will be reviewed and submitters of the best proposals will be offered an opportunity to present information during ICAO’s UAS Industry Symposium in September in Montreal.
