DHS study on UAS safety procedures chooses DFW Airport as field site

Dallas Fort Worth International (DFW) Airport has been chosen as a field site for a study to develop operational requirements addressing how to respond to potential threats to airports and airport operations from unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).

The study comes from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate, in partnership with DFW Airport and airport stakeholders including the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), whom have recently visited the airport.

The group is considering how to develop operational requirements for emergency response capabilities to meet emerging unmanned aircraft systems challenges in airport operating environments. Topics of discussion include:

• Summary of emerging UAS challenges
• Overview of current and future Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems (C-UAS)
• Response capabilities and concepts of operation
• Local perspectives on roles and responsibilities during a UAS incident.

“DFW Airport has participated in numerous committees and conferences to advocate for responsible drone use and advance deployment of detection and mitigation technologies,” said Chad Makovsky, Executive Vice President for Operations at DFW Airport and a member of the C-UAS Blue Ribbon Task Force on UAS Mitigation at Airports. “We are excited to be a part of this study to develop rigorous C-UAS requirements that will ultimately benefit the entire industry.”

The industry and airport sponsored C-UAS Blue Ribbon Task Force provides Congress, federal agencies and the aviation industry with policy recommendations on how to best mitigate potential threats from unauthorised operation of unmanned aircraft systems.

Under the Preventing Emerging Threats Act of 2018, DHS has statutory authority to counter credible threats from UAS to the safety or security of a covered facility or asset. The site visit is part of ongoing efforts by DHS and other federal agencies to develop operational requirements for a wide variety of C-UAS future capabilities across all DHS mission areas.