The ECOA Paradigm for UAS Operations

The ECOA Paradigm for UAS Operations A White Paper By David Kovar Advocacy Director National Association for Search & Rescue (NASAR) and Jason Kamdar Chief Executive Officer Kaizen Kinetics Unmanned Systems and December 22 nd, 2015

Table of Contents Objective... 1 ECOA and First Responder COAs... 1 Blanket ECOA and FRCOA Authorization... 2 Justification - NOTAM... 2 NOTAMS and Auto Conversion to ECOA... 3 Justification Operational Area... 3 Justification Altitude... 3 Risk Mitigation Procedures... 4 Effective Integration of UAS to SAR Operation... 4 Procedures for UAS Flights During Night Hours... 5 Benefits to the Public... 6

Objective To provide the facts and procedures that would allow Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) flight by a Public Agency having jurisdiction, or commercial UAS operators under the Agency s auspices, through a standing First Responder Certificate of Authorization (FRCOA) that allows the operator to: 1. Be exempted from the current 24 to 72 hour Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) requirement, issuing a 1 hour NOTAM instead. 2. Fly at or below 400 feet rather than the current 200 feet provided by the blanket COA. 3. Fly over people and property within the affected area rather than flying at least 500 feet clear. Under this proposal, Agencies (and their commercial counterparts) should be able to immediately operate under the Agency s or participating commercial operator s standing ECOA (or a commercial operator s First Responder COA (FRCOA)) when there is a declared emergency (e.g. life is threatened, human suffering is possible) involving time critical, life safety conditions and managed according to NIMS. The standing ECOA/FRCOA would be submitted and approved prior to any event and would be updated with relevant information when an incident is declared. ECOA and First Responder COAs As described on the FAA website, effective Sept 2014, public agencies with an existing COA can request an ECOA: The FAA issues COAs on an emergency basis when: 1) a situation exists in which there is distress or urgency and there is an extreme possibility of a loss of life; 2) the proponent has determined that manned flight operations cannot be conducted efficiently; and 3) the proposed UAS is operating under a current approved COA for a different purpose or location. Effective October 2015, the FAA issued a new notice (N JO 7210.889) to provide procedures and guidance on operating UAS in the NAS: Section 9.a.2 and 3 For UAS operating as public aircraft, the authority is the Certificate of Waiver or Authorization Emergency COA (ECOA) directly support emergency and law enforcement type operations. Many public agencies lack the resources to develop and operate their own UAS program. They will depend on non- profit and private organizations to provide UAS resources, just as they depend on these partners for many other services during emergency responses. 1

We propose extending the ECOA concept to commercial operators through a First Responder COA (FRCOA) that would apply providing the following conditions are met: 1. The commercial operator is responding to an emergency under the direct supervision of a Public Agency having jurisdiction and is utilizing ICS 2. The commercial operator holds a valid 333 exemption 3. The commercial operator is flying a properly registered aircraft 4. The commercial operator s flight crew has taken and passed the FEMA ICS- 100, ICS- 200, ICS- 700, and ICS- 800 classes 5. The commercial operator carries commercial insurance covering operations in support of emergency services 6. The commercial operator s flight crew is equipped and trained to maintain real time communications with the communication s group for the incident 7. The commercial operator documents twice yearly training events with appropriate emergency response agencies 8. The commercial operator has liability insurance of at least $1,000,000 for aircraft and $1,000,000 general liability. Blanket ECOA and FRCOA Authorization We propose that during a declared incident, ECOA and FRCOAs holders are authorized to: File appropriate NOTAMs within one hour of the ECOA or FRCOA going into effect. Fly over the entire operational area without restriction AHJ has life safety responsibility for the operational area. They are also assuming responsibility for UAS interaction with people and property within the area. Fly at or below 400 feet AGL Justification - NOTAM Emergencies require immediate response on the part of first responders to effectively protect life, property and the environment. UAS assets are proving themselves to be very capable of rapid deployment to address many tasks such as intelligence gathering, cartography, search, injury and damage assessment to name a few. Delaying the deployment of these assets for 24 hours due to current NOTAM requirements severely impedes the effectiveness of UAS deployment and puts lives, property and the environment at greater risk. We suggest that Public Agencies operating under an ECOA and commercial operators operating under a FRCOA be allowed to operate UAS one hour after filing a NOTAM. 2

NOTAMS and Auto Conversion to ECOA As it is unknown which geographic location a future Search and Rescue (SAR) and Disaster Response (DR) operation will take place, it is also unknown which future locations will require a NOTAM. Would a NOTAM be created for likely locations i.e. mountain ranges where hikers usually get lost? How does one know where swimmers, kayakers, boaters, etc. would need to be rescued? It is unknown where or when a wreck, earthquake, flooding, or other natural disaster would occur. Does one create a NOTAM for a certain season i.e., fires, snow, or rain season? Proposed solution: The Public Agency s COA immediately converts to ECOA in emergency situations (time sensitive, life critical), without requiring authorization from FAA, as this can delay the process and place lives in unnecessary risk. When the Public Agency having jurisdiction does not have a COA the ECOA/FRCOA proposed in this paper would be used if the operator is working for the AHJ. Standard procedures would be used by the AHJ or private organization to file a NOTAM at least one hour prior to commencing operations. The Public Agency s standing COA should be county wide to allow coverage of all potential areas an Agency may require in a Search and Rescue situation. Justification Operational Area Search and Rescue operations, by nature, are generally conducted in rural or semi- rural areas far from population dense environments. All agencies having jurisdiction (AHJs) over the operational area are represented in the Incident Command structure. The specific area the SAR operation is conducted in will be under the control of Incident Command, including all air traffic if a TFR is declared, which will be controlled by the designated personnel from Incident Command Air Operations. Further, the fully vetted UAS operators will have undergone not only aircraft specific training to ensure safe and effective flight, but will should have conducted prior field exercises with SAR teams to integrate the UAS into the SAR operation. This practice ensures that all team members are aware of the UAS capabilities and limitations, and know how to respond accordingly. Some SAR team members may be cross trained as Visual Observers (VOs), and will help coordinate the UAS flight. Given all of this above and beyond control of the flight area and integration with individuals below the flight path, we propose that overflight of non- participating personnel be allowed under the authority of the ECOA/FRCOA. Justification Altitude Situational awareness and near real time imagery of the operational area are crucial for operations and planning elements of SAR incidents. Flying below 200 feet per the blanket COA greatly increases the time required to collect sufficient imagery of the area. Further, flying below 200 feet complicates flight planning due to terrain avoidance issues. For these reasons, we propose that the ECOA/FRCOA standard flight ceiling be set at 400 feet. 3

Risk Mitigation Procedures To ensure UAS operations are effectively integrated into the SAR operation any organizations utilizing UAVs should develop UAV specific risk management programs. Some components of these programs might be: Pre- flight safety checklist including: battery voltage, compass calibration and GPS satellite lock, electro- mechanical airworthiness, etc. Operators trained through a program of high standards, such as the NASAR s proposed UAS training program. Lost Link / Operator error failsafe switch to ensure a safe landing in the event of operator s loss of positive control of the UAS. This would be either a Return to Home feature or a slow landing directly over the area the GPS signal is lost. Training in effective communication between Pilot in Command (PIC), Pilot at Controls (PAC) and Visual Observer (VO). ex: inbound full scale aircraft, SW approximately 900 feet AGL ; aircraft nearing obstruction, shift left 40 feet, increase altitude 30 feet and yaw 45 degrees to maintain eyes on subject. Positive communication between the UAV teams in the field and the Incident s Air Branch Implementation of systems such as NASA s UAS Traffic Management when available Local Sheriff and/or SAR team should have a list of pre- qualified UAV operators to call on, that have been vetted for operational legality as well as practical skills (reference the NASAR position paper dated August 2015), and have had a proper level of prior training with the SAR team to prepare for an effective and efficient operation. Use of ICS Air Branch SOP s similar to those in use by the Fire Service during wildland fire air suppression operations. Effective Integration of UAS to SAR Operation Truly integrating UAS into a SAR operation requires improved communication with both ground and aerial assets. To achieve this goal, the procedures such as the following should be implemented: Template of data for Incident Commander and/or Site Command that includes: o number and type of UAS o contact info of UAS operators 4

o frequencies of both verbal radio communication and UAS vehicle operation to allow for centralized tasking and ensure there is no com interference Identify the class of personnel on location: o Participating in UAV operation (necessary for flight). o Non- participating in UAV operation, but active in the SAR operation, thus near/interacting with UAVs and subjects (necessary for SAR operation, but not for flight). o Non- participating personnel that should not be at the location of the SAR operation at all and may interfere with and/or compromise the safety of the operation. VO and/or PIC trained in hands- free VHF/UHF radio to enable fluent communication with both ground assets as well as aerial assets. This enables communication with manned aircraft pilots and other unmanned aircraft operators as well as ground units in the event of lost cell phone signal. Relay real time video feed (including telemetry data and thermal imagery) to a screen at the Command Post for Incident Commander and/or Site Commander (as well as any other necessary parties) to view the live video and data. As per the above FAA Notice issued October 27, 2015, daisy chaining VOs is now allowed. Even so, there must be a primary VO within audible contact of the PAC at all times, and additional VOs must have constant radio contact with both PAC and primary VO. ADS- B out with GPS transponder to coordinate with aerial assets and ground Command post, and show up on Mission Manager (if utilized in the operation). ADS- B out provides for: o Transmission of UAV s location and ground speed o Positive, unique identification of the UAV in flight o Instant relay of information to designated Air Traffic Coordinator Procedures for UAS Flights During Night Hours UAS operations for these time- critical, life- safety operations should be allowed during night hours, providing the following procedures are followed: Compliance with applicable Title 14 CFRs as a baseline. The UAV is outfitted with sufficient external Port and Starboard indicator lighting, Fore and Aft orientation lighting, as well as a beacon bright enough to be seen by other aircraft in the area. Potentially require an ADS- B out transponder to be installed on UAV. 5

Continuous hands- free radio contact with both the Command Post and the on- site Air Traffic Coordinator must be required for night hours operation. Benefits to the Public The above procedures will enable the immediate deployment of aerial assets directly from the SAR ground team s location to search for victim(s), without waiting for manned air aircraft to be dispatched. As UAVs are capable of both thermal imaging technology and delivering emergency supplies (two way radio, water, thermal blanket, life vest, tow line, etc.), this critical time savings could be the difference between a Rescue and a Recovery. Operating cost savings to the tax payer as well as the Public Agency. Average operating cost for manned aircraft is $500 - $3000 per hour, plus an equivalent amount of maintenance cost. UAV services range from zero (volunteer) to $300 per hour with minimal maintenance. Further, lower startup and operating costs will enable more agencies to develop an aviation program to support their public service missions. Many agencies have no aviation assets at all. UAVs can extend the aerial capabilities of these agencies Deployment of aerial assets immediately assist SAR ground teams to properly assess terrain and hazards, not only for the subject, but the rescue team itself, thus potentially preventing injuries and saving lives. Over the long term, these prevention measures can save both the medical system and Government agencies millions of dollars in potential treatment of injuries and/or loss of life lawsuits. We propose that the procedures outlined in this paper allow for safe flight within 500 feet of non- participating personnel and property, up to an altitude of 400 feet above ground level, and within one hour of filing a NOTAM in emergency operations conducted under the authority of Public First Responder Agency s and their vetted non- public counterparts. Further, these procedures will allow for far more timely and efficient deployment of UAS technology in critical life saving scenarios. 6