A survey of unmanned aircraft systems regulation: Status and future perspectives

Any aircraft, manned or unmanned, may enter safely and legally into the US National Airspace System (NAS) provided that it has been issued an airworthiness certificate complying with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requirements. Unfortunately corresponding requirements, procedures and regulations for airworthiness certification of unmanned aircraft are in early development stages and flight of such systems is still restricted. This paper presents a survey of the current status of unmanned aircraft system (UAS) regulations both in the US and internationally, followed by brief overview of current manned aviation airworthiness certification procedures and requirements. Future perspectives of UAS regulation are discussed along with a proposed UAS classification for certification purposes.