BALANCING PUBLIC SAFETY AND INNOVATION IN ADMINISTRATIVE CONTROL OF UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS

The quick spread of aircraft systems ("UAS") into commerce, agriculture, logistics and public safety has moved faster than the administrative systems that were used before to manage manned aviation. This Article analyses how international, regional and national groups that manage aviation like the International Civil Aviation Organization, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration among others have tried to find a way to make UAS work while keeping it safe. The Article denotes the legal base from the Chicago Convention, the European Unions risk-based categories, U.S. Rules under Part 107 safety research on managing drone traffic and examines how people work with control systems. It says that administrative control of UAS has partly found the right balance. It ends with ideas for a system that uses risk-based categories, special safety plans for drone traffic rules that make control systems easier to use and agreements between countries.