II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 387 

To require the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to use 

the definitions in section 40125 of title 49, United States Code, in 

determining whether an unmanned aircraft conducting aeronautical research flights qualifies for public aircraft status under that section, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 5, 2015 

Ms. MURKOWSKI (for herself, Mr. WYDEN, and Ms. HEITKAMP) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To require the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to use the definitions in section 40125 of title 

49, United States Code, in determining whether an unmanned aircraft conducting aeronautical research flights 

qualifies for public aircraft status under that section, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Safe Skies for Un5 manned Aircraft Act of 2015’’. 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 387 IS

1 SEC. 2. PUBLIC AIRCRAFT OPERATING STATUS OF UN2 MANNED AIRCRAFT USED IN AERONAUTICAL 

3 RESEARCH FLIGHTS; SAFETY PROCEDURES 

4 FOR SUCH FLIGHTS. 

5 (a) PUBLIC AIRCRAFT OPERATING STATUS.—In de6 termining whether an unmanned aircraft used in the con7 duct of aeronautical research qualifies as a public aircraft 

8 under section 40125 of title 49, United States Code, the 

9 Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration 

10 shall— 

11 (1) for purposes of determining whether the air12 craft is used for a commercial purpose, use only the 

13 definition given that term in subsection (a) of such 

14 section; and 

15 (2) for purposes of determining whether the air16 craft, including airborne platforms and systems, is 

17 used for aeronautical research and platform-based 

18 research, include atmospheric and natural resources 

19 research, meteorological observation, and airborne 

20 astronomy as aeronautical research. 

21 (b) PROCEDURES FOR BEYOND-LINE-OF-SIGHT OP22 ERATIONS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

24 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Adminis25 trator shall develop and implement procedures for 

26 safe, beyond-line-of-sight operations in the national 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 387 IS

1 airspace system by unmanned aircraft conducting 

2 aeronautical research. 

3 (2) CONSIDERATIONS FOR APPROVAL.—In de4 veloping the procedures required by paragraph (1) 

5 relating to beyond-line-of-sight operations by un6 manned aircraft described in that paragraph, the 

7 Administrator shall ensure that a decision to ap8 prove such an operation takes into consideration the 

9 safety of the entire operation, including whether any 

10 provisions required to be included in the certificate 

11 of authorization for the operation result in addi12 tional safety risk to any individual associated with 

13 the operation. 

14 (c) UNMANNED AIRCRAFT DEFINED.—In this sec15 tion, the term ‘‘unmanned aircraft’’ has the meaning given 

16 that term in section 331 of the FAA Modernization and 

17 Reform Act of 2012 (Public Law 112–95; 49 U.S.C. 

18 40101 note). 

Æ 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS