Legal Interpretations
Williams-AFS-80 Clarification 2014
Summary
The Question
Is aeronautical research the only kind of research that may qualify as a public aircraft operation using unmanned aircraft?
Background
The FAA Chief Counsel's office clarified its June 13, 2014 memorandum on research using unmanned aircraft systems after questions about its scope.
The FAA’s Interpretation
No. The June 13 memorandum addressed only aeronautical research, one governmental function; research fulfilling another governmental function under the public aircraft statute may also qualify. The FAA will examine whether each project supports a core governmental function, warned against stretching the statutory functions to cover all desired research, and noted that a governmental function is only one consideration for a valid public aircraft operation.
- Requester
- Williams
- Organization
- AFS-80 Clarification
- Issued
- July 3, 2014
- Subject
- Small Unmanned Aircraft
- Clarifies
- Williams (June 13, 2014)
Page 1
Federal Aviation
Administration
Memorandum
Date: July 3, 2014
To:
From:
Prepared by: Karen L. Petronis, Senior Attorney for Regulations, AGC-210
Subject: Clarification of June 13, 2014 Interpretation on Research Using UAS
In response to questions about the scope of the June 13, 2014 memorandum on research using unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), we are providing this clarification that interpretation was limited to an analysis of permissible aeronautical research using UAS. Aeronautical research, as used in the statute and discussed in the interpretation, is a governmental function that may be conducted using a public aircraft. We did not mean to imply in the June 13 memorandum that no other research may be conducted using UAS as a public aircraft. If a research project fulfills another governmental function under the statute, then it too may qualify as a public aircraft operation. · Since there are several governmental functions described in the statute, we will not attempt to provide a list of operations that might qualify. We only caution that the governmental functions listed in the statute not be artificially manipulated in meaning so that they include all desired research activities. Because the list of governmental functions in the statute is not exclusive, analysis by our office will focus on whether other proposed functions are similar to the core governmental functions necessary for the day to day operation of a state that the public aircraft statute allows to be free of federal aviation regulation. Each proposed research activity will be examined to determine whether it supports a core governmental function. Finally, we note that whether there is a governmental function that supports a proposed operation is but one of the considerations that goes into determining whether there is a valid public aircraft operation under the terms of the statute.
We are available to assist your staff in assessing research projects that serve as a basis for a public aircraft COA requests and whether they serve a legitimate government function.
Snapshot retrieved August 6, 2026.