UAS operations restricted at more federal facilities

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) airspace restrictions over additional national security sensitive locations, effective Nov. 7.

In cooperation with its federal partners, the FAA will restrict UAS operations in the airspace over 60 additional Department of Defense and Department of Justice facilities to address concerns about malicious drone activity. An FAA Notice to Airmen (NOTAM), FDC 9/7752, defines these special security instructions. The FAA has published a new NOTAM, FDC 9/1278, which alerts UAS operators and others in the aviation community to this change and points to FDC 9/7752.

UAS operators are strongly advised to review these NOTAMs, as well as important supporting information provided by the FAA’s UAS Data Delivery System (UDDS) website. This website contains the text of FDC 9/7752 (click on “UAS NOTAM FDC 9/7752” on scroll bar along the top of the page).

Further down the page is an interactive map (“Map of FAA UAS Data”) displaying restricted airspace throughout the U.S. Zooming in will enable viewers to click on each of the 60 new DOD and DOJ locations and see the specific restrictions. Each of the 60 locations are in yellow since the restrictions are pending until the Nov. 7 effective date, at which point they will become red.

The restrictions will also be included in the FAA’s B4UFLY mobile app.

UAS operators who violate these flight restrictions may be subject to enforcement action, including potential civil penalties and criminal charges.

The FAA considers requests by eligible federal security agencies for UAS-specific flight restrictions using its authority under 14 CFR § 99.7. The agency will announce any future changes, including additional locations, as appropriate.