FAA to study how unmanned aircraft would fit in civilian airspace; WA company supplying plane

FAA to study uses of unmanned aircraft

BINGEN, Wash. — Unmanned aircraft maker Insitu Inc. is working with the Federal Aviation Administration to research how remotely piloted planes would fit into the nation’s air traffic control system.

Unmanned aircraft have been used extensively by the military. But the FAA wants to learn more about them and the differences in how air traffic controllers would manage such planes. The research will be done at the FAA’s Hughes Technical Center in Atlantic City, N.J.

Under an agreement signed Monday, Insitu, based in the southwest Washington town of Bingen, is supplying one of its ScanEagle planes and will train FAA employees to fly and maintain it. Insitu is a wholly owned independent subsidiary of The Boeing Co.