The Federal Aviation Administration has refused to allow Amazon to test using unmanned aerial drones to deliver packages due a dispute with the online merchant over how it should conduct its research, an administration official told a congressional panel Wednesday.
The impasse has led to a warning from the company that it will move its drone research abroad if it doesn’t reach an agreement with the FAA soon.
Commercial use of aerial drones, even ones the size of a model airplane, is currently prohibited by the FAA because of concerns that it would present hazards for manned aircraft. The FAA does grant exceptions on an ad-hoc, case-by-case basis. Amazon’s request for one has been in limbo more than a year.
Peggy Gilligan, the FAA’s associate administrator for aviation safety, said the impasse was because the government thought Amazon did not need the permit created specifically for drone use — called a Section 333 — and should instead use a different certification intended for experimental vehicles.
“We believe that, to some extent, that what they want to be able to do, they can do with a research certification for the vehicle. We are also working with them on taking that approach because we think that will fit their needs better,” Gilligan said in testimony before the House Transportation Committee on Wednesday.
However, Amazon disagrees that the government has a better handle on what the company needs, Gilligan conceded: “We know they are not satisfied that they have to go that path, but I am certain that we will reach some conclusions shortly so that we and they can figure out a way to support what they are trying to do.”
In a Dec. 7 letter to the FAA, Paul Misener, Amazon’s vice president of global public policy, said an experiment certificate would not allow the company to work “with the flexibility we need or at the pace we need it.”
Misener said the certification the FAA is insisting on for Amazon “entails a lengthy process that was designed for manned aircraft,” in which the company must register and obtain certification for each vehicle it creates — a serious burden for the company, which is constantly building new drones.
He warned that if the situation is not resolved soon, “we will have no choice but to divert even more of our [drone] research and development resources abroad.”
Amazon declined to comment on Gilligan’s testimony.
To date, the FAA has granted 13 Section 333 permits, five of them on Wednesday. Most have gone to the motion picture industry.
The FAA has said it will announce new proposed rules for commercial drone usage before the end of the year. Business groups have warned that the administration has been too slow and too restrictive, and this has allowed other countries, particularly those in Europe as well as Canada and Japan, to take the lead on the technology.
“There are hundreds if not thousands of small [drone] businesses here in the United States, either operating in the shadows or struggling to follow the current rules. There are even more companies that would have started here in the U.S. but are moving abroad because of the uncertain regulatory environment here in the U.S.,” said Jesse Kallman, a board member of the Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Coalition, in testimony before the committee. Amazon is a member of the coalition.
The FAA has maintained a cautious approach, stating that safety must be the first consideration. A study released by the administration last month found that there had been 25 near-misses involving drones and manned aircraft just since June 1.
Lawmakers at the hearing generally expressed frustration with this approach. Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., whose state has an FAA drone test site, said that her constituents have “a lot of enthusiasm” for drone technology but were getting fed up.
“We have a lot of open space. We have Creech Air Force Base. We have a very creative gaming industry that wants to provide bottle service by the pool with these things. The potential is great,” she said. But the rule has been so long coming that the enthusiasm has waned.
“I don’t know why a business wouldn’t go test in Canada rather than using one of our test centers,” Titus said.
