Originally Posted by
cj_rumley
True enough, Frank. When they come after the offending individuals, my question is will FAA charge them for non-conformance with "Section 336(a)(2) requires model aircraft to be operated within a community-based set of safety guidelines and within the programming of a nationwide community-based organization." That's the point of this thread, i.e., under what circumstances would that particular charge ever be made by FAA against anyone.
cj
I think Al Gunn has it right, only the FAA can be charged with violating Section 336. Model aircraft operators that operate outside of the rules for exemption can no longer be considered model aircraft and are fair game as sUAVs in the NAS. As for the community-based set of safety guidelines, as one example there is currently a difference in interpretations between the AMA and the FAA in regards to the use of spotters when flying FPV in the 550.pdf document. To my knowledge this document is in its third or fourth revision and will probably be revised again. As a CBO any individuals operating within "community-based set of safety guidelines" (550.pdf at whatever version) will be considered to be operating safely as model aircraft. FPV operations could continue at AMA fields with these differences (without problems) for a considerable amount of time. It becomes a problem when an incident occurs and the authorities become involved and the FAA points to standing NAS regulations/section 336, their interpretation of 336 and the current version of 550.pdf. At that time the AMA will be tasked to justify the different interpretation (probably in a court of law) and might be held libel.
Frank