Las Vegas, Nevada.  The ARC-CSI Crash Conference continues to set the standard for excellence in live, fully instrumented practical crash testing anywhere. Each year for the past 16 years, the ARC-CSI Crash Team has conducted multiple, fully instrumented crash tests that have been the basis for valuable insight into how various crash scenarios occur and have become the basis for a wealth of information on vehicle systems and operations.

This year, the conference spent a full half day discussing drone technology and the uses of unmanned aircraft in traffic accident reconstruction.  Petauro Systems President, Drew Jurkofsky, gave an encompassing presentation, “Unmanned Aviation: A Profession within a Profession,” about the need for professionalism in unmanned aircraft system programs.  Presenting on the proposed accreditation standards of the Public Safety Aviation Accreditation Commission, Jurkofsky discussed reasons for viewing a UAS program as a profession within the organization.  Drawing from experience with building programs in the public and private sectors, the presentation addressed start-up issues, shared lessons learned and hinted at what the future may hold.