Survey of Operators' Unmanned Aircraft Systems Experience

The routine integration of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) into controlled airspace is a pressing challenge around the world. In order to identify what information surveillance systems need to detect and display about the UAS, air traffic controllers and pilots were surveyed. Participants were asked a wide range of questions regarding their experience with UAS and information requirements under different conditions. This paper focuses on understanding operators’ previous experiences with UAS. Close to 60% of controllers and 42% of pilots reported having had some form of experience with UAS. Approximately the same proportion of controllers reported UAS operating in airspace designated for UAS operations as those reporting operations in low and high density regions of airspace and near standard flows in their airspace.