Teubner and the Drones

Abstract

Purpose ”“ The article aimed to analyze some features of air services by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), in order to assess if they constitute, or not, a subsystem of the civil aviation system and, stemming from this assessment, to discuss the suitability of some regulatory strategies for these air services.

Methodology/approach/design ”“ The theory of self-referential systems, developed by Teubner, supported the analyses done.

Findings ”“ Air operations using UAV present features that allow the inference that these operations with UVA constitutes a civil aviation subsystem.

Practical implications ”“ On account of the fact that air operations using UVA constitute a subsystem of their own, the regulation should consider their intrasystemic characteristics, which differ them from the others civil aviation air services. In the compliance and inspection field related to this subsystem, the discussion points to the possibility of a structural coupling that includes the police force system of the states of the country. 

Originality/value ”“ The article introduces a discussion about the regulatory strategies for the air operations using UAV from the point of view of the self-referential systems.