OSHKOSH: UAV fears may prompt LSA expansion, LAMA says
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has requested a survey of light sport aircraft (LSA) employed for commercial services in foreign countries, a possible step towards expanding the sector’s application in the USA a decade after the regulated category was created, says an LSA advocacy group.
The survey is informing FAA deliberations about allowing LSAs to serve a variety of commercial services, including sightseeing tours, pipeline surveillance and crop spraying, says Dan Johnson, president and chairman of the board of the Light Aircraft Manufacturers Association (LAMA).
“There’s a number of things that has to happen, but it could happen in a year or two,” says Johnson.
The LSA category is restricted to offering only two commercial services – aircraft rentals and flight instruction. Expanding that definition would require a rulemaking process, Johnson says. The average time it takes to complete a rulemaking is about seven to 10 years.
However, the FAA could put such a rule for LSA on a fast-track due to concerns in another aviation sector – unmanned air vehicles (UAVs), or drones.
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