Tag Archive for: Speech

Administrator Stephen Dickson
Brasilia, Brazil

Remarks As Prepared for Delivery

Thank you, Amanda Pinheiro [Consultant at AP Communications], for that kind introduction. Bom Dia [Good morning] to everyone. Its great to be here in the capital city of Brasilia. Although Ive flown to many South American countries in my years as an airline pilot, this is my first trip to Brazil.

As for Brasilia, I can think of no better location for this important Forum than a city built nearly 60 years ago in the shape of an airplane. A design that mimics one of our greatest human achievementspowered flightis a fitting architectural icon when it comes to spurring the imagination and progress.

Id like to thank our gracious hosts, ALTA and in particular, Felipe [de Oliveira, ALTAs Executive Director], as well as my counterparts here in Brazil, including ANAC, DECEA, Infraero and SAC.

The United States and Brazil have long been leaders in civil aviation. We honor the vision, passion and perseverance of our aviation pioneersthe Wright Brothers and Alberto Santos Dumontmore than 100 years ago.

Since then, the United States and the broader Latin America and Caribbean regions have made significant progress starting almost 90 years ago with the Havana Convention, which was later replaced by the Chicago Convention. Provisions in the Convention enabled U.S.-owned airlines to freely operate services within North and South America.

It was more than 75 years ago when the FAAs forerunner, the Civil Aeronautics Administration, launched its first Inter-American Training Program to train future pilots, mechanics and airways technicians.

Today, air transport is an economic engine in the Latin America and Caribbean regions:

• In Latin American and the Caribbean, aviation contributes more than $150 billion to the regions GDP while connecting 160 global cities.
• Airlines in the region generate more than 7 million jobs and support 2.6 million flights per year.
• Since 2012, the annual passenger traffic growth to, from and within Latin America has averaged nearly 6%, and the industry expects that strong growth to continue.
• The Latin American Fleet has been transformed over the past twenty years, from one of the oldest in the world in terms of average ago to one of the youngest.

And that gets to the heart of why Im hereTo keep aviation a healthy and competitive industry, safety must be our foundation and top priority.

The accidents in Indonesia and Ethiopiaand the tragic loss of 346 livesremind us in the strongest terms that passengers expect one level of safety no matter where they fly. Without that confidence as a baseline, theres no need for competitivenessthe public will simply not fly.

Before I say more, I would like to acknowledge again the tragic loss of life in the Lion Air and Ethiopian Boeing 737 MAX accidents, especially as we approach the one-year anniversary of the Lion Air crash. Our thoughts are with the families and friends during this difficult time.

We want them to know that we are working our hardest to improve the margin of safety for the aviation industry globally, and that we are fully committed to implementing the recommendations from the various groups reviewing our processes as part of the necessary work of continuous improvement on safety.

The FAA and other international authorities are working diligently to ensure that this type of accident does not occur again. Getting it right is the most important part of the safety communitys obligation to the traveling public.

I would like to recognize our colleagues here in Brazil for their help on various aspects of the MAX analyses and reviews. Included are Roberto Honorato, of ANAC, and two of his colleagues who were members of the Joint Authorities Technical Review, or JATR. I will speak more about the JATRs work and the MAX return-to-service later.

When I was at Delta, I was responsible for the safety and operational performance of the companys global flight operations of more than a million flights a year on six continents, as well as pilot training, crew resources, crew scheduling and regulatory compliance.

That job made me understand this fact: To remain competitive in an industry of fast-paced change and increasing complexities, safety must be our main focus and core value.

I understand very well that there is always a certain tension between accomplishing the mission getting the job done- and focusing on safety.

For example, pilots always have to deal with operational pressure. There is pressure to get customers to their destinations on time. There is pressure to complete the flightpressure to accomplish the mission. We need to see this in ourselves and every so often step back and make sure we are doing things the right way, which means the safest way and usually the most efficient way because safety is built into the process.

And leadership needs to back their people up. You can ask any Delta pilot, and if they were around during my tenure they heard me say repeatedly: make the tough call and I will support you. If ever you need to stop the operation in the interest of safety, do it. Set the parking brake, get everything sorted out, and get everyone on the same page before proceeding. If you need help or resources, ask for them. If it turns out we need to delay or cancel the flight then we will. I will support you every time. There will always be pressure to get the job done. But we cant let it compromise our duty to do things the right waythe safest way.

Secondly, the abilities for self-examination and continuous improvement need to be ingrained in us. What we did yesterday, and what we are doing today will not be good enough tomorrow. Everything in our business is changing so fast and we have to able to stay ahead of that pace of change.

This is in so many ways the most exciting time in the history of aviation, probably since the introduction of the jet engine into commercial service, or going back even further to the DC-3.

Were seeing radically new entrants vying for access into the airspace…the likes of which 20 years ago, heck, even five years ago, were science fiction. The FAA has already registered more than 1.4 million small drones, about 400,000 of which are for commercial purposes; weve approved two Air Taxi applications.

As a point of reference for how fast this industry is moving, the FAA has been registering manned aircraft for 92 years, and after only four years of registering drones, weve got four times as many on the books.

Flying taxisaka urban air mobilityare on the horizon and chomping at the bit to begin airspace testing. According to the FAA UAS team, we are currently engaged with the builders of more than 15 electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft projects.

We have proposed new rules that will remove bureaucracy and streamline the testing process for a new generation of civil supersonic aircraft.

We have civilian space pioneers getting ready to take suborbital excursions offered by multiple startup space companies at non-traditional launch sites, like Oklahoma or Alcantara in Northern Brazil.

And lets not forget airspace modernization. On January 1, ADS-B the backbone of our next-generation, or NextGen, air traffic management systemwill become the primary surveillance technology in most U.S. controlled airspace. As of early October, we surpassed the 100,000 mark for equipped aircraft.

On January 1, 2020, all aircraft operating in certain U.S. airspace must be equipped for the ADS-B Out mandate.

Maintaining the highest levels of safety while adapting to technological advancements will be a key part of our success.

To effectively manage all this activity, I have set out four main priorities for my time at the FAASafety; Global Leadership; Stakeholder Engagement, and People. Note that my first priority is Safety…

Lets talk about the MAX. It is crucial that we make safety improvements to the overall aviation system as we learn from the various international efforts analyzing the 737 MAX and its certification.

Ive said this before but will continue to repeat it: The FAAs return-to-service decision based solely on our assessment of the sufficiency of Boeings proposed software updates and pilot training that addresses the known issues for grounding the aircraft. That decision will be applicable only to U.S. carriers operating in U.S. airspace.

Other civil aviation regulators have to take their own actions to return the 737 MAX to service for their air carriers and their airspace. We are conducting numerous outreach activities….

• We are providing assistance to support states on return-to-service issues
• Maintain communication and sharing of information; and
• Schedule more technical webinars in the future.

As far as regaining public trust in the FAA and the safety of the 737 MAX, when we return it to service, we believe the transparency, open and honest communication, and our willingness to constantly improve our systems and processes are the key.

Transparency into our process, transparency into the independent reviews and changes that result from them, our testimony in congressional hearings, our informational briefings to Congressional staff, and our media outreach through our FAA Office of Communications are all important. The public and civil aviation authorities must know that we are not resting on previous safety rates or current processes.

We welcome feedback on how we certified the 737 MAX and are dedicated to providing the safest aviation system in the world. We remain transparent and communicate our actions with international regulators, so that they have the information to make an informed decision.

As you know, there are multiple different independent investigations and audits ongoing on the 737 MAX and the FAAs certification and delegation processes. The first to be completed was the Joint Authorities Technical Review (JATR) teams review of the Boeing 737 MAX flight control system certification.In addition to FAA specialists, the JATR team included aviation safety professionals from NASA, Europe, Canada, Brazil, Singapore, Australia, Indonesia, China, United Arab Emirates, and Japan.

We welcomed the teams recommendations in their final report, and I appreciate their thorough review and hard work.The JATR report highlighted 12 recommendations that would address certain certification and policy-related observations about system safety assessments, human factors, staffing, and oversight of the Organization Designation Authorization (ODA) process.

We are fully committed to address all of the recommendations, with special emphasis on those that might pertain to returning the 737 MAX to service. As we have said repeatedly, the aircraft will fly ONLY after we determine it is safe.

The FAAs formation of the JATR was an unprecedented step in that direction. Never before, have 10 civil aviation authorities come together to jointly evaluate the certification processes of one of the partners. The scope of inclusion and communication with our international partners far exceeds any previous effort. The decision to launch the JATR was based on full transparency, openness and delivering on our obligation as the global leader in aviation safety.

Based on what were learning, I see tremendous opportunities for us to make meaningful improvements to the international aviation system. Included is the need to advocate for a global conversation about deepening the understanding of human factors and raising the standards on pilot training.

In closing, I would like to emphasize that while competitiveness is in our naturewe all strive to be the best and our industry thrives because of itwe cannot compete on safety.

Safety must be our top priority and most important core value. Without that foundation, we falter as an interconnected global transportation network.

We at the FAA support ALTAs mission to provide for the development of a safer, more efficient air transport system, and we thank you for your support of our initiatives of the same.

We remain committed to working closely with our government and industry partners throughout Latin America to address the safety and air navigation challenges in the region, and to increase the margins of safety for all of aviation.

I would like to again thank ALTA for inviting me, and to my counterparts here in Brazil for being such gracious hosts.

Obrigado Thank you.

Deputy Administrator Daniel Elwell
Las Vegas, Nevada

As Prepared

Thank you, Mike (Pehel), for that kind introduction, and thank you InterDrone for inviting me to speak here again this year.

As you know, on August 12th Steve Dickson was sworn in as the 18th FAA Administrator, so Im back to the Number 2 position on the team. Thats ok though. Like the old tag line for Avis rental cars, being Number 2 just means I try harder.

The truth is, I very much look forward to working with Administrator Dickson. Even though we spent large parts of our earlier careers as pilots for competing airlines Steve at Delta, me at Americanwe have a lot in common. We both started out as Air Force pilots, in fact we both went to the Air Force Academy, and at the FAA we both have a laser focus on operationalizing the FAAs agendaand that includes your agenda.

Because of this, some higher-ups have referred to us as the Dynamic Duo. But please, dont call me Robin. And definitely dont call Steve Batman…

But what you can call us are UAS integration advocates, and Im here to tell you why.

You know its usually true that when summer heats up, life slows down. But in your line of business, this summer has been anything but sluggish. This summer has been all about action, the kind of action that suits the operators that come to InterDroneconstruction, cinema, photography, inspection, agriculture, public safety, energy, surveying and mappingthe list goes on and on because youre finding new ways to use drones every day.

Were making big progress on real-world testing for how to safely and securely integrate drones into the National Airspace System, or NAS, and developing or delivering new rules to codify what were learning so that drones can become regular participants in NAS operations rather than special or waivered one-offs.

At the same time, were heavily invested in educating todays drone community, especially hobbyists, on what they can and cant do. As you know, an uninformed recreational flier in the wrong place at the wrong time could ruin everyones dayrecreational and commercialby threatening manned aircraft or innocent bystanders. Since mid-April, the FAA has held seven drone webinars, three public safety seminars and two Facebook Live question and answer sessions that reached nearly 70,000 people, generating about 4,000 questions or comments. Thats a success story for outreach, but stay tunedwhile 70,000 may seem like a lot, were just scratching the surface since weve already registered more than 1.4 million drones.

So lets talk about some success stories for keeping the ball moving forward on integration.

Last month, we saw significant approvals and actions in North Dakota, Kansas and North Carolina, all part of the UAS Integration Pilot Program, or IPP, which Secretary Chao launched two years ago. Through the IPP, nine state, local and tribal governments across the U.S. are partnering with industrythe companies in this roomto develop UAS regulations, policy and guidance through practical applications. Perhaps more importantly theyve become the match that is lighting a creative fire in the industry and in the public for what this novel new form of transportation might achieve.

North Dakota had two major IPP success stories in August. For one, Xcel Energy can now remotely inspect a portion of the power lines outside an operators visual range along a stretch of urban roads in Grand Forks. They can do this in both daytime and nighttime conditions under a one-year waiver the FAA issued to the North Plains UAS Test Site. As you might expect, there are caveats. While the operator is in a remote location, there is a person launching the drone at the remote site, and command and communication links limit the Beyond Visual Line of Sight, or BVLOS, distance to a few miles at the moment.

While Xcel has been using drones for several years in remote areas to inspect electric and natural gas infrastructure, this is the first time theyve been approved for BVLOS flights within a city. I dont have to tell this crowd the significance of the waiverits the first time weve approved BVLOS operations without visual observers in an urban environment in a Part 107 waiver.

Xcel isnt spending its money and time on a whim. The company says inspecting distribution lines with drones allows crews to get better details on our energy systems without having to put workers in the air with a more expensive helicopter or bucket truck. Drones also minimize the impact on neighborhoods and the environment by avoiding the use of large trucks typically needed for these inspections.

In Bismarck, North Dakota, we just issued a Part 107 waiver for the Highway Patrol and the Burleigh (Burlee) County Sheriffs Office to operate drones over people, another advancement in operational capabilities.

As you can imagine, each waiver is unique, and each rests on the foundation of a successful safety case that the applicant made to the FAA. Included in a safety case are the location of the requested operations, the altitude, the reliability of the equipment, and in the case of operations over people, what injuries might be caused to a bystander if the drone falls out of the sky. Approvals may also be contingent on mitigations to reduce consequences of a failure.

The safety case for a Part 107 BVLOS waiver we just approved for the Kansas Department of Transportation has several layers. The flights will inspect power lines along a nine-mile route in rural Kansas over the next few months. The approval is based on a number of safety nets: The drones will operate next to manmade structurespower lines in this casewhere they are much less likely to be sharing the airspace with manned aircraft and they will use an onboard detect-and-avoid system. The operators in the ground control system will also have access to additional traffic data.

Now lets talk about a waiver we issued in mid-August involving drones flying over moving vehicles in North Carolina. Drone maker Flytrex, working with drone services company, Causey Aviation Unmanned Inc, will use the approval to fly food from a distribution center, across a highway, to customers at a sports and recreation park. This is part of an IPP with the North Carolina Department of Transportation.

Their safety case for flying over the vehicles included the demonstrated reliability of the selected drone, and as a potential mitigation for failures, Flytrexs self-triggered parachute recovery system. Flytrex developed the parachute system using standards set by the FAA and American Society for Testing and Materials, better known as ASTM.

Those examples make clear how much practical progress were making with the IPP. When matched with the companion program, the Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic Management, or UTM, Pilot Program, or altogether, UPPand thank goodness for acronyms, right?! we are making concrete progress toward full UAS integration. We launched the UPP program three years ago to help us figure out how to do drone air traffic management.

NASA and the FAA have been working on UTM since 2015. Its essentially a set of concepts and tools that we are developing with industry to safely manage dense low-altitude drone operations. UTM is not a specific equipment system; it will be complementary to the existing air traffic management system and will not replace it. Were working closely with NASA who has done some of the heavy lifting with its UTM technical capability level, or TCL, demonstrations.

But were also running our own UPP tests and have made significant progress this summer.

In June, the Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership demonstrated separate BVLOS drone flights delivering packages, studying wildlife, surveying corn fields and covering a court case for TV near the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. All of the operators submitted their flight plans through a service supplier and received approval, and none were flying in airspace where regular FAA separation services are provided.

The true value of a UTM system became obvious when a simulated emergency helicopter needed to transport a crash victim to the hospital in the area where the drones were operating. The helicopter pilot submitted a request for what we call a UAS Volume Reservation or UVRthats an alert that the UTM system delivers to nearby drone operators. In this case, the deliveries were rerouted; the wildlife study, field survey and court coverage continued, but safely away from the helicopters path.

We ran similar tests in Grand Forks, North Dakota, in July, and here in Las Vegas, in early August. In both cases, either Medivac helicopters or first responders submitted UVRs that allowed multiple drone operators doing other business in the vicinity to safely accommodate the high-priority flight.

A key element of these UTM tests is having some form of remote identificationthe ability for those managing or monitoring the traffic to be able to contact the drone or its control station, or both, when necessary. We plan to publish a draft rule later this year on how we can do that.

Other regulatory advances were making include a new proposed rule we published in February that would allow Part 107 operations over people and at night. We received more than 900 comments that were now evaluating.

Thats a lot of work enabled under Part 107. But as you know, there is also a great deal of activity outside of Part 107. In fact seven of our nine IPP lead participants or their partners are applying for Part 135 certificates to be able to deliver goods. One of those participants, Wing Aviation, already received its approval in April. The Part 135 certificate requires much higher safety hurdles, including type certification for the drone and an economic authority approval by the Department of Transportation.

The future payoff for the additional safety measures and certification requirements will be in more liberalized operation. Wing, for example, will initially operate only in certain rural areas around Blacksburg, Virginia. Down the road, its likely that companies like Wing will take the lessons learned from these flights and apply them to more complex operating scenarios.

Helping with all of this is Secretary Chaos support for IPP and UPP, and a regulatory push from Congress. A whopping 130 pages of our 2018 Reauthorization covered drone-related provisions, including instructions to streamline the Part 107 waiver application process and to consider industry recommendations in other areas, a task we just assigned to the Drone Advisory Committee.

I think even the most skeptical among us would have to agree that the FAA and industry have made a lot of progress of late. Even so, were still in the crawl phase of our Crawl, Walk, Run strategy for full integration.

So what do we consider walking? More urban operations, day and night, more BVLOS flights of longer distances and multiple UAS per flight path and per operator.

Running? Im not even sure weve flushed that out yet. Earlier this summer, I would have said it was Urban Air Mobilityflying taxisthe Jetsons. Given how fast everything moves in this industry, its just possible that UAM has already been upstaged. I guess Ill find out when I walk the halls here…

In any case, walking and running are probably not that far off, especially given the hot pace weve all set this summer.

Thank you for your time. I know you guys are going to have a great conference.