From the U.S. Government Accountability Office, www.gao.gov Transcript for: FAA and Unmanned Aerial Systems Description: Audio Interview by GAO staff with Gerald Dillingham, Ph.D., Director, Physical Infrastructure Related GAO Work: GAO-15-610: Unmanned Aerial Systems: FAA Continues Progress toward Integration into the National Airspace Released: August 2015 [ Background Music ] [ Narrator: ] Welcome to GAO's Watchdog Report, your source for news and information from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. It's August 2015. Unmanned aerial systems,commonly known as drones, are aircraft that do not carry a pilot aboard. Instead, they operate on preprogrammed routes or are manually controlled by pilots and ground controlstations. Since 2012, the Federal Aviation Administration has been developing plans to safely integrate drones into the national airspace. A team lead by Gerald Dillingham, adirector in GAO's Physical Infrastructure team, recently reviewed FAA's progress on integration. GAO's Jacques Arsenault sat down with Gerald to talk about what they found. [ Jacques Arsenault: ] We hear a lot about drones being used in the military, but this report really focused on drones for commercial use here in the United States. Can youtalk about some of the potential commercial uses for drones? [ Gerald Dillingham: ] Absolutely. And I think it's an important distinction that we make here between the military-type drone that we are used to seeing in the news in the warareas that are armed and are Predator-type, versus what we're talking about now is the small, less than 55-pound drone that will be used for commercial purposes of all types. Ithink, you know, we are just beginning to see the range of possibilities and potentials for the use of this technology. Almost any place where an aerial view will be anadvantage or any place where the human could be in jeopardy could be served by one of these drones or this kind of technology. We already see it being used in search and rescuemissions. We see it being used in law enforcement. We see it being used in newsgathering. We also see it being used in a personal way in terms of like real estate oversight ortaking pictures of weddings and things like that. And I think the big thing coming up is, over the horizon a little bit, we'll see package deliveries from Amazon all the way topizzas. [ Jacques Arsenault: ] So then what are some of the things that FAA should be taking into consideration when they're integrating drones into the national airspace? [ Gerald Dillingham: ] Well, I think the first thing that FAA is considering is maintaining the safety of the national airspace system. That is to say, as the population ofdrones increases, it's going to be critical that FAA and those who are operators of these drones can maintain safe distance between all the other participants in the air space.That's big aircraft. That's little aircraft. That's helicopters. I mean, that's the key thing is safety of the rest of the flying public. The other issue I think is command andcontrol. That is to say that there has to be a technological solution so that if, in fact, someone is flying a drone that they can in fact make sure that they have command andcontrol of that drone so that if they need to bring it down or they need to direct it in a certain way, that technology has to be in place. And I think the third thing that FAAis working on, FAA and a lot of other federal agencies, is the issue of privacy. There's a significant concern that someone could misuse this technology and violate someone'sprivacy on the ground. All of those are, sort of, I think the key issues that FAA has to deal with for that smooth integration. [ Jacques Arsenault: ] Well, let me ask you then, how is FAA doing in the integration process? [ Gerald Dillingham: ] Well, I think it's still a work in progress, however we've been looking at this over the years and clearly we were able to say that all the signs arepointing in a positive direction, that FAA is definitely moving forward with this integration. Although, it probably took longer than most people wanted it to take. Right now,it looks like we're on a good path. [ Jacques Arsenault: ] So, you mentioned it taking a little while. And one thing that your report mentions is that several other countries have been much faster in integratingdrones into their airspace. What, if anything, have they done differently from the U.S. to make this move more quickly? [ Gerald Dillingham: ] That's an interesting question. I think the first thing that we understand is that many countries have been doing this much longer than we have in theUnited States. And so they have a body of experience and knowledge that they're applying. The other thing is the recognition that our airspace--the U.S. airspace--is thelargest, most complicated airspace on the planet. And at the same time, it's the safest airspace on the planet. So, therefore, FAA is risk adverse. And I think everybody wantsFAA to be risk adverse. So, they are going to try to make sure as much as they can that when this integration takes place, it's done in a safe and efficient way. And even thesecountries that are "ahead of us," some of those countries went out with the use of drones a little bit too soon, and we see around the world now that some of these countriesare drawing back in order to put in place more stringent regulations and more guidance for the use of them. So, we're okay. We didn't get there as fast as we wanted to. But theU.S. is okay in this. [ Jacques Arsenault: ] And finally, what would you say is the bottom line of this report? [ Gerald Dillingham: ] Well, I think the bottom line is that this is a new technology that is going to affect all of us in many, many different ways and that, moving forward,we can see that we are on the edge of something new and great for all the U.S. population. [ Background Music ] [ Narrator: ] To learn more, visit GAO.gov and be sure to tune in to the next episode of GAO's Watchdog Report for more from the congressional watchdog, the U.S. GovernmentAccountability Office.