DC COURT OF APPEALS CASE ON DRONES
June 19, 2014
A non-profit Texas company specializing in performing missing persons searches, Texas EquuSearch Mounted Search and Recovery Team (EquuSearch), filed a lawsuit in U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit asking the court to set aside an order that prohibits the non-profit company from employing drones to perform its work. EquuSearch has coordinated volunteer searchers in search-and-rescue missions and for nearly a decade has used camera-equipped model aircraft to assist in the searches.
In February 2013, an EquuSearch volunteer made an informal inquiry to the FAA about whether the agency’s policies on the use of drones for search-and-rescue missions has changed. The FAA responded in an email to EquuSearch that the unauthorized use of drones violates Advisory Circular AC 91-57 and hence the operations are illegal. The FAA also noted that EquuSearch holds a Certificate of Authorization (COA) to operate but only in a particular area and if there were any operations outside of the prescribed area they should stop immediately. In response to the email from the FAA, on March 17, 2014 EquuSearch brought the exchange to the attention of the FAA’s Chief Counsel and asked the directive to “stop immediately” be rescinded within 30 days. When EquuSearch did not receive a reply within 30 days the company filed a Petition of Review with the court.
The Petition for Review argues there is no basis in law to prohibit the operation of model aircraft for humanitarian search-and-rescue operations and that the use of drones falls outside FAA restrictions that say model aircraft may not be operated “by persons or companies for business purposes.”
This Eckert Seamans Aviation Blog post is intended to keep readers current on matters affecting businesses and is not intended to be legal advice. If you have any questions, please contact Evelyn Sahr ( esahr@eckertseamans.com 202-659-6622) or Drew Derco ( dderco@eckertseamans.com 202-659-6665).