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Title: Pilot Union Urges FAA To Reject Rainmaker's Drone Cloud-Seeding Plan

Link: https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/09/13/0012...

An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Rainmaker Technology's
bid to deploy cloud-seeding flares on small drones is being met by resistance
from the airline pilots union, which has urged the Federal Aviation
Administration to consider denying the startup's request unless it meets
stricter safety guidelines. The FAA's decision will signal how the regulator
views weather modification by unmanned aerial systems going forward.
Rainmaker's bet on small drones hangs in the balance. The Air Line Pilots
Association (ALPA) told the FAA that Rainmaker's petition "fails to
demonstrate an equivalent level of safety" and poses "an extreme safety
risk." Rainmaker is seeking an exemption from rules that bar small drones
from carrying hazardous materials. The startup filed in July, and the FAA has
yet to rule. Instead, it issued a follow-up request for information, pressing
for specifics on operations and safety. In its filing, Rainmaker proposed
using two flare types, one "burn-in-place" and the other ejectable, on its
Elijah quadcopter, to disperse particles that stimulate precipitation. Elijah
has a maximum altitude of 15,000 feet MSL (measured from sea level), which
sits inside controlled airspace where commercial airliners routinely fly.
Drones need permission from Air Traffic Control to fly inside this bubble.
Rainmaker's petition says it will operate in Class G (uncontrolled) airspace
unless otherwise authorized. ALPA notes the filing doesn't clearly state
where flights would occur or what altitudes would be used. Rainmaker and ALPA
did not reply to TechCrunch's requests for comment. The union also objects to
the flares themselves, citing concerns about foreign object debris and fire
safety. ALPA points out that the petition does not include trajectory
modeling of the ejectable casings or analysis on the environmental impacts of
chemical agents. However, Rainmaker says the flights will occur over rural
areas and over properties owned by private landlords "with whom Rainmaker has
developed close working relationships." [...] What happens next hinges on
whether the FAA thinks those mitigations are sufficient. However it's
decided, the agency's response will likely set the tone for novel cloud-
seeding approaches.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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