Inspector Richard J. Prosek was recently announced as the new manager of the FAA’s Unmanned Aircraft Program Office, Unmanned Aircraft Safety Branch, AFS-407.  With thirty-four years of aviation safety experience serving in the military, airlines and FAA, Rick is well suited for the challenges ahead.  As a retired Air Force Brigadier General, Rick served as the Commander, District of Columbia Air National Guard and he also commanded an F-16 Expeditionary Fighter Squadron during Operation Northern Watch.  Additionally, Rick is a retired airline Captain having flown over 10,000 incident-free flight hours with a major air carrier.

As an FAA Aviation Safety Inspector with the Performance Based Flight Systems Branch, AFS-470, Rick served as the Chairman and US member to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Operations Panel and also as the Designated Federal Official for the All Weather Operations Harmonization Work Group. 

AUVSI has had the opportunity to meet with Mr. Prosek at one of our recent conferences and we’ve begun discussions on how to maintain an open dialogue between the FAA and the UAS community.  We look forward to creating a stronger strategy with Mr. Prosek in the coming weeks.