ASSESSING THE RISKS OF INTEGRATING
UNMANNED
AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS
INTO THE NATIONAL AIRSPACE SYSTEM
Committee on Assessing the Risks of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration
Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board
Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences
A Consensus Study Report of
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, DC
www.nap.edu
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This study is based on work supported by Contract DTFAWA-17C-0008 with the Federal Aviation Administration. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of any organization or agency that provided support for the project.
International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-309-47750-5
International Standard Book Number-10: 0-309-47750-6
Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.17226/25143
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Suggested citation: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Assessing the Risks of Integrating Unmanned Aircraft Systems into the National Airspace System. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/25143.
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COMMITTEE ON ASSESSING THE RISKS OF UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS (UAS) INTEGRATION
GEORGE T. LIGLER, NAE,1 GTL Associates, Chair
BRIAN M. ARGROW, University of Colorado, Boulder
GREGORY B. BAECHER, NAE, University of Maryland, College Park
STEPHEN P. COOK, Northrop Grumman Corporation
LOUIS ANTHONY COX, JR., NAE, Cox Associates
LETICIA CUELLAR-HENGARTNER, Los Alamos National Laboratory
MARGARET T. JENNY, RTCA, Inc.
ANDREW R. LACHER, The MITRE Corporation
KAREN MARAIS, Purdue University
PAUL E. McDUFFEE, Insitu, Inc.
AMY R. PRITCHETT, Pennsylvania State University
AGAM N. SINHA, ANS Aviation International, LLC
KAREN E. WILLCOX, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
CRAIG A. WOOLSEY, Virginia Tech
Staff
DWAYNE A. DAY, Senior Program Officer, Study Director
SARAH BROTHERS, Associate Program Officer
MICHAEL H. MOLONEY, Director, Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board and Space Studies Board
DIONNA WISE, Senior Program Assistant
ALAN ANGLEMAN, Senior Program Officer
___________________
1 Member, National Academy of Engineering.
AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ENGINEERING BOARD
ALAN H. EPSTEIN, NAE,1 Pratt & Whitney, Chair
ELIZABETH R. CANTWELL, Arizona State University, Vice Chair
ARNOLD D. ALDRICH, Aerospace Consultant
BRIAN M. ARGROW, University of Colorado, Boulder
STEVEN J. BATTEL, NAE, Battel Engineering
MEYER J. BENZAKEIN, NAE, Ohio State University
BRIAN J. CANTWELL, NAE, Stanford University
EILEEN M. COLLINS, Space Presentations, LLC
MICHAEL P. DELANEY, Boeing Commercial Airplanes
KAREN FEIGH, Georgia Institute of Technology
NICHOLAS D. LAPPOS, Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin Company
MARK J. LEWIS, IDA Science and Technology Policy Institute
VALERIE MANNING, Airbus
RICHARD McKINNEY, Consultant
PARVIZ MOIN, NAS2/NAE, Stanford University
JOHN M. OLSON, Polaris Industries
ROBIE I. SAMANTA ROY, Lockheed Martin Corporation
AGAM N. SINHA, ANS Aviation International, LLC
ALAN M. TITLE, NAS/NAE, Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center
DAVID M. VAN WIE, NAE, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
IAN A. WAITZ, NAE, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
SHERRIE L. ZACHARIUS, Aerospace Corporation
Staff
MICHAEL H. MOLONEY, Director
CARMELA J. CHAMBERLAIN, Administrative Coordinator
TANJA PILZAK, Manager, Program Operations
CELESTE A. NAYLOR, Information Management Associate
MEG A. KNEMEYER, Financial Officer
SU LIU, Financial Assistant
___________________
1 Member, National Academy of Engineering.
2 Member, National Academy of Sciences.
Preface
In 2017, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) asked the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to undertake a study of the risks of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) integration into the National Airspace System. The National Academies formed a committee that met three times between fall 2017 and early 2018. This is a dynamic subject that was changing as the committee was finalizing its report and even during the report’s review. Nevertheless, the committee sought to provide findings and recommendations that will help the FAA to foster an environment in which UAS can operate safely within the National Airspace System while also contributing to public health, safety, and economic growth.
George Ligler, Chair
Committee on Assessing the Risks of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration
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Acknowledgment of Reviewers
This Consensus Study Report was reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in making each published report as sound as possible and to ensure that it meets the institutional standards for quality, objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process.
We thank the following individuals for their review of this report:
Norman Abramson, Southwest Research Institute (ret.),
Ella Atkins, University of Michigan,
Gary Church, Aviation Management Associates,
John-Paul Clarke, Georgia Institute of Technology,
Christopher Hegarty, The MITRE Corporation,
Robert Kayen, University of California, Berkeley,
Vijay Kumar, University of Pennsylvania,
Ali Mosleh, UCLA Institute for Risk,
Peter Sachs, Altiscope,
John Tylko, Aurora Flight Sciences, and
Harrison Wolf, World Economic Forum.
Although the reviewers listed above provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations of this report nor did they see the final draft before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Robin McGuire of Lettice Consultants, International. He was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with the standards of the National Academies and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content rests entirely with the authoring committee and the National Academies.
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