Full Agenda for Technical Committee Overseeing Progress on Standards

At the September meeting, the Program Management Committee (PMC) approved a revised standard, two new Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) white papers, and revisions to the Terms of References (TORs) for five Special Committees (SC).

DO-227A, Minimum Operational Performance Standards for Lithium Batteries, was prepared by SC-235 and provides design, testing, and installation guidance for non-rechargeable lithium batteries and battery systems which are permanently installed on aircraft or used in aviation.

DO-311A, Minimum Operational Performance Standards for Rechargeable Lithium Battery and Battery Systems, presented by SC-225, Rechargeable Lithium Batteries and Battery Systems, was not approved. There was strong differing opinion on the thermal runaway test. Consensus could not be reached and a dissenting opinion was formally submitted. After much discussion about various positions and possible solutions, the PMC members decided to turn the matter over to an Ad Hoc to come up with a compromise to get the document publishable.

WP-3, White Paper for Phase Two Command and Control (C2), prepared by SC-228, describes the plan for development, verification and validation of Phase 2 activity that will define both normative performance standards and informative guidance material for UAS C2 Link Systems and their associated top-level constituent subsystems. These papers go beyond point-to-point architectures addressed in Phase 1 to address Beyond-Radio-Line-of-Sight (BRLOS) applications and architectures.

WP-4, White Paper for Phase Two Detect and Avoid (DAA) Minimum Operational Performance Standards (MOPS), also prepared by SC-228, contains the description and plan for development, verification and validation of Phase 2 MOPS for Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) DAA systems. The standard will specify performance standards useful to designers, manufacturers, installers and users of the equipment. Emphasis for Phase 2 will be development of standards for UAS equipped to conduct extended Beyond-Visual-Line-of-Sight (BVLOS) operations in the National Airspace System (NAS).

The PMC also approved revised TORs for:

SC-135, Environmental Testing, included work with SC-228 to develop a document that specifies ground based equipment environments and qualification procedures and adjust other sections of DO-160H.
SC-186, Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B), changed their Designated Federal Officer (DFO) and requested a delay of delivery dates.
SC-209, Minimum Operational Performance Standards for ATCRBS/Mode S Transponder, changed their DFO.
SC-227, Standards of Navigation Performance, will continue to monitor the work of EUROCAE WG-107 (DME/DME), after delivery of their document in December 2017.
SC-228, Minimum Performance Standards for Unmanned Aircraft Systems, indicated changes based on two approved white papers.

Additionally, PMC members received updates on FAA reorganization, FAA Actions on previously published documents, the Forum of Aeronautical Software’s (FAS) progress, European/EUROCAE Coordination, SC reports, and officially sunset SC-231, TAWS, with the publication of TSO-C151d.

The next PMC meeting is scheduled for December 19 at RTCA.