News and Updates – Recreational Drone Flying Aeronautical Test Moves Forward

WASHINGTON To advance public safety of the largest segment of drone operations, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) today announced the organizations selected to advise the agency in developing test administration requirements for the recreational Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) aeronautical knowledge and safety test.

A law passed in 2018 requires that recreational drone flyers pass an online aeronautical knowledge and safety test and carry proof of test passage with them while operating a drone. There are more than one million FAA registered recreational drone flyers. To ensure that flight operations are conducted safely, the FAA is developing a test to increase the aeronautical knowledge of recreational drone flyers.

On September 17, the FAA issued a Request for Information (RFI) seeking to work with stakeholders on the administration of a new aeronautical knowledge test for recreational drone flyers. Based on their responses to the RFI, the organizations below were selected to advise the agency in developing the test administration process.

• Embry Riddle Aeronautical University
• Drone Launch Academy Southeastern University
• Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC)
• DJI
• Horizon Hobby, LLC.
• Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Coach
• King Schools
• Unmanned Safety Institute
• First Person View (FPV) Freedom Coalition
• Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association
• Academy of Model Aeronautics
• Drone Racing League

The above organizations will make recommendations to the FAA on the safety test administration requirements. From these recommendations, the FAA will develop the final requirements that potential test administrators must meet. These requirements, and any associated selection criteria for test administrators will be announced on FAA.gov.

The test must be administered electronically by the FAA, community-based organizations, or others designated by the FAA. The FAAs objective is to work with third party entities to allow them to administer the knowledge training and test content on various platforms for the recreational flyer community.

Section 44809 of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 (PDF) requires new conditions to operate recreational drones. Many drones can be flown today with minimal training or knowledge of aviation rules or safety practices. The statute provided an opportunity to educate recreational flyers on UAS safety and to bring new flyers into the existing aviation safety culture.