September 11, 2015
WASHINGTON – The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced today that it has published in the Federal Register a Notice of Interpretation to clarify that its existing definition of “unmanned aircraft accident” does not include model aircraft. The definition appears in the NTSB’s regulation entitled “Notification and Reporting of Aircraft Accidents or Incidents and Overdue Aircraft, and Preservation of Aircraft Wreckage, Mail, Cargo, and Records.”
In the interpretation, the NTSB notes that it considers instructive the description of “model aircraft” that appears in the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012.
The interpretation also notes the NTSB’s exclusion of model aircraft from the applicability of its regulation on notification and reporting of aircraft accidents or incidents, which can be found at part 830 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, is consistent with international practices and interpretations concerning accident notifications and investigations.
The Notice does not request comments or issue any deadlines. The NTSB publishes the Notice to provide clarification concerning the agency’s interpretation of the definition of “unmanned aircraft accident” in 49 C.F.R. § 830.2.