FAA approves Virginia Tech’s updated test method for drones to fly over people

Federal approvals for flying drones over people have been advanced through Virginia Tech research. 

As of April 5,  the updated means of compliance established by the Virginia Tech Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership has been accepted by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and published as a notice of availability in the federal register, establishing its availability for use. These updated testing methods allow the use of parachutes when assessing potential failure modes, an important step for the drone industry. 

“All these changes and modifications to the means of compliance allow for a more robust test method, which can assess a wider range of potential aircraft and include lessons learned since establishing the first  means of compliance,” said Robert Briggs, chief engineer with the Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership. “With the addition of parachutes, the new means of compliance includes the ability to consider a parachute recovery system as a tool to reduce injury, greatly increasing the likelihood that an aircraft equipped with a parachute will pass.”

Parachutes are one potential method of mitigating the risk to people on the ground. To be utilized in the means of compliance, parachutes must be tested according to ASTM International’s Standard Specification for Small Unmanned Aircraft System Parachutes.

The drone industry was provided a pathway for flying over people with the FAA’s establishment of the rule in 2021, which allows for flights over people, but only after a drone is tested to show it complies with the rule. 

Later that year, the Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership established the first means of compliance for operations over people to be accepted by the FAA, and soon after, the first drone passed the tests. These testing methods were developed in partnership with the Virginia Tech Center for Injury Biomechanics to ensure aircraft do not exceed comparative injury limits and do not contain exposed rotating parts capable of lacerating human skin. They provided an understanding of what’s required to operate over people and the means of compliance provided a firm process to meet those requirements.

“We’re honored to be part of what the FAA is doing to ensure drones can be safely operated over people, ” Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership Director Tombo Jones said. “Years of research has led us to this point, and this step forward opens the aperture for the number of drones that may be able to fly over people. ”