Unmanned Aircraft Systems: FAA Could Better Leverage Test Site Program to Advance Drone Integration

As directed by statute, FAA established unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) test sites to allow industry to assess the safety and feasibility of complex UAS operations, such as flying beyond an operator's line of sight. FAA has stated that its UAS test site program provides research results and other data needed to reach full integration. FAA's UAS integration plans specify the importance of not only collecting data from test sites but also using the data to inform the agency's strategic planning efforts. In 2020, GAO reported that FAA has regularly collected data from the test sites since 2015, including data on UAS flight tests conducted by test site staff. However, GAO found that FAA had not fully leveraged data gathered from the sites to advance UAS integration. FAA officials said the agency intended to use these data to a greater extent in the future to further advance integration, but it had not yet developed a data analysis plan for how to do so. Without a plan for analyzing the data, FAA could miss opportunities to leverage what was intended to be a cornerstone of the test site program-information to help FAA move UAS further toward full integration into the national airspace. Further, having such an analysis plan could help FAA articulate how the agency will use test site data more in the future and identify other data that are within the agency's authority to request from test sites that would help inform integration. As a result, GAO recommended that FAA should develop a plan for analyzing currently-collected UAS test site data to determine how they could be used to advance UAS integration, and whether the collection of any additional test site data, within the agency's authority to request, could be useful for informing integration. In 2020, GAO confirmed that FAA had, in response to this recommendation, developed the FAA UAS Test Sites Program Data Analysis Plan, issued in September 2020. This plan describes, among other things, how FAA analysts will conduct this analysis and several analysis questions to be answered, including whether the data collected from test sites has findings that would support additional integration activities (to enable complex UAS operations) for FAA to add to its FY 2020 Implementation Plan for the Integration of UAS into the National Airspace System. In the data analysis plan, FAA indicates that this analysis should also help support the agency's efforts to achieve a goal in FAA's Strategic Plan for FY 2019 - 2022, which relates to deploying critical steps enabling complex UAS operations through rulemaking. UAS stakeholders working with FAA test sites are testing complex UAS operations and various capabilities identified by FAA as needed to inform integration policies and rules moving forward. Having created this plan for analyzing the test site data, FAA should now be better poised to use the data to inform the overall UAS integration effort, such as in developing UAS operational standards.

As directed by statute, FAA established unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) test sites to allow industry to assess the safety and feasibility of complex UAS operations, such as flying beyond an operator's line of sight. FAA has stated that its UAS test site program provides research results and other data needed to reach full integration. In 2020, GAO reported that FAA provides limited information to the public, including stakeholders and test site users, about how the research at test sites helps to inform FAA's UAS integration efforts. FAA officials told GAO that they were wary of providing more public information about the test sites, based on concerns about potentially being perceived to be promoting the designated test sites and concerns about sharing data that could be proprietary. In GAO's assessment, however, it would be possible for FAA to share more information publicly about how this program fits into the agency's broader UAS integration effort without promoting any particular test site or sharing any proprietary information. Representatives from all seven test sites and many test site users in GAO's review (13 of 18) reported that publicly available information on research efforts at test sites is limited. Many users GAO spoke to (11 of 18) stated that FAA should include more information about the test sites on its website, and in FAA's planning documents. While FAA officials pointed to the FAA's UAS Test Sites website as the agency's main public outreach effort on this program, in examining the website, GAO found little description of how this program relates to the agency's broader integration plans and no discussion of desired outcomes from the research under way at test sites. Although some UAS stakeholders-such as users of test sites-may be aware of the research underway at test sites, the audience for UAS integration is larger and includes others such as those from the information technology and agricultural industries, whose stakeholders may be less familiar with FAA's efforts. Thus, improving FAA's public information about this program could increase the UAS stakeholders' awareness of test sites' capabilities, expertise, and services, and their understanding about how the program fits into FAA's broader integration efforts. Consequently, GAO recommended that FAA should publicly share more information on how this program informs integration while continuing to protect information deemed proprietary; and noted that this information could be shared, for example, on the agency's UAS Test Sites website. In 2020, GAO confirmed that FAA had taken sufficient action to publicly share more information on how the test site program informs integration by significantly improving its UAS Test Sites website. Specifically, FAA updated this website by adding descriptions of how this program fits into the agency's broader UAS integration goals, and of the ways in which the UAS test sites can support their users- such as local agencies and private companies-in conducting research and demonstrations related to various intended uses of UAS. In addition, FAA added context about some research and development areas on which the test sites are focusing their efforts, which relate to the agency's planned incremental phases of UAS integration and so should also support FAA in advancing such UAS technologies and concepts. By FAA sharing more information about how the program relates to the agency's UAS integration efforts, the broader community of UAS stakeholders should be better positioned to participate in the integration effort. Further, with more accessible information, more UAS stakeholders may choose to use a test site to conduct their own research. Given that one of the primary goals of this program is to provide information to FAA to help the agency develop the policies and standards required to address new and novel aspects of UAS flight operations, having more test site users could better position FAA to achieve this goal.