“Normalizing Unmanned Aircraft Systems Beyond Visual Line of Sight Operations” (BVLOS) is a proposed FAA rule submitted to the Federal Register on Aug. 7, 2025.
The comment period for this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) closed Oct. 6, 2025.
Click the Public Comments link on the rule’s page in the Federal Register and a pop-up says 1,025,003 comments received. But when you actually read them, there are only about 3,091.
Why the discrepancy? Who knows? Either way, that is a lot of comments.
Anyway, moving on.
In general, I’m not a fan of the “we were here first” argument.
As in, “we’ve been playing loud music at our house since before any of the neighboring homes were even conceived, so we can do what we want. We were here first.”
Society doesn’t generally work like that.
But in the case of this BVLOS legislation, I believe the “we were here first” argument is applicable.
And this isn’t a Not-In-My-Backyard (NIMBY) position.
Right-of-Way (ROW) is at the heart of this legislation.
Instead of requiring drones to detect and avoid (DAA) any obstacle (like airplanes, helicopters, or cranes), this rule will put the onus on crewed aircraft.
From the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association’s comment on the legislation: “To grant these aircraft ROW over other aircraft that are arguably less maneuverable appears to dismiss the fundamental realities of how aircraft interact with one another.”
From the Alaska Airmen’s Association’s comment: “Manned aircraft should always have the right-of-way over unmanned vehicles. The idea that ADS-B Out be required to maintain right-of-way is offensive to manned operations and is a poorly fielded attempt at a back-door equipage mandate.”
Adam White, Government & Legislative Affairs Advocate for the Alaska Airmen’s Association who wrote the association’s comment, offers a brief history lesson: “Whenever a new entrant to aviation emerges, it has always been incumbent on the newcomer to integrate into the aviation system. It has never been the responsibility of the pre-existing party to upend their operations to accommodate the new entrant.”
There’s a lot more to this legislation: Equipage, privacy, detect-and-avoid, priorities, and safety. How could I forget safety?
The drones aren’t coming, they’re already here.
You can argue they shouldn’t be allowed in the National Airspace System (NAS) at all, but I believe you’ll find yourself among an ever-shrinking group of like-minded people.
How they integrate in our airspace is everything.
This is evidenced by an Oct. 2, 2025, story on CNN about two Amazon drones that crashed into a crane in Arizona. If two Amazon drones can’t avoid a construction crane, what chance do other nearly immobile objects have? Let alone those of us inside our aircraft.
Amazon is a great example of those on the other side of this discussion. There are others, of course, but let’s take a quick look at Amazon’s financials to see who we are competing with.
In 2024, revenue topped $637 billion. It invested $88.54 billion on research and development.
By contrast, in 2024, all of the members of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association shipped aircraft with a combined value of $31 billion.
And Amazon knows how to lobby Congress as well.
It’s just one would-be drone operator seeking BVLOS access to the NAS.
We’ve got our work cut out for us.
For now, keep your head on a swivel. I’m afraid “we were here first” won’t mean much in this fight.
Money talks…” fill in the blank. A while back. I had a model airplane come up on my right and just under me, as I was in a descent to land at my home base. It was in the blink of an eye. In that split second, I wasn’t sure if it were another airplane about to collide with me, as I saw it first in my peripheral vision. That was larger than some drones, and in no way could I maneuver out of its was that fast. Even though there are regulations, not everyone follows safety…just like many of the people on bikes and motor bikes on city streets. Hoping integration still works out.
I am tired of finding out about federal register Items after the comment period had closed. Rarely do I see a story along the lines of,”one might comment on this”, with a link to the register.