By: Ben Gielow

Texas EquuSearch, a nonprofit organization dedicated to
finding missing people, said it will immediately resume UAS flights
after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled
the e-mail notices EquuSearch received from an FAA safety inspector
were not binding and have no force of law.  Only official notices from
the FAA’s legal office outlining the infraction, punishment and means to
appeal are considered binding.  According to the Houston Chronicle, in
response to the ruling, Brendan Schulman, the attorney for Texas
EquuSearch, said “while the ruling doesn’t resolve the legal issues
related to drone use, it clarified there was no valid order from the FAA
prohibiting Texas EquuSearch from using drones.  Texas EquuSearch is
free to resume its humanitarian use of drones.”

In response to the ruling, the FAA reiterated its position
that non-recreational flights of UAS (modelers) are prohibited absent
FAA approval.  However, even that position is being in the FAA v.
Raphael Pirker case, which the National Safety Transportation Board is
expected to rule on in the coming weeks.