Unmanned military aircraft to operate under advisory notam

Unmanned military aircraft to operate under advisory notam

By AOPA ePublishing staff

The FAA’s decision to issue an advisory notam, rather than flight restrictions, for unmanned military aircraft operations near Cherry Point, N.C., should be a model for managing traffic near unmanned aerial flights, AOPA says.

“It is encouraging that the FAA balanced the needs of civil aviation with those of the military by making this an advisory notam,” said Andy Cebula, AOPA executive vice president of government affairs. “This needs to be the template for other locations where unmanned aircraft are used.”

In the notam, the FAA advises pilots who fly near Cherry Point to be alert for unmanned military aircraft within Alert Area A-530. The aircraft will fly between 2,500 feet msl and 3,500 feet msl during daylight visual meteorological conditions only. Aircraft that do not have an altitude encoding transponder are strongly urged to avoid Alert Area A-530 unless they are in contact with Cherry Point Approach Control.

January 30, 2008