Georgia legal quirk puts aerospace engineers in catch 22

ATLANTA — Aerospace engineers in Georgia face a no-win legal situation that could be hampering growth of the aviation industry.

A legislative committee studying ways to bolster flight-related jobs heard testimony Wednesday about the legal quirk. Georgia law requires anyone designing planes, helicopters, rockets or even their major repairs to be professionally licensed by the state.

But the Federal Aviation Administration oversees the operation of aircraft, so the state stopped giving licensing exams more than a decade ago. Aerospace engineers who want a state license have no way to get one unless they opt for a general-engineering test on topics like concrete, soil erosion and building ventilation.

“We don’t care about being licensed by the state because no one from the state ever knocks on our door saying, ‘let me see your license,’” said Greg Kress, co-owner of Top Flight Aerostructures in Dallas, Ga.

Florida is the only state that exempts aerospace engineers from the legal requirement to be licensed, and that likely had its origins in the NASA-related work at Cape Canaveral.

Aviation is already a big industry in Georgia, with manufacturers like Gulfstream Aerospace and Lockheed Martin that make this the top state for aerospace exports, as well as commercial carriers like Delta Air Lines and the world’s busiest passenger airport.

But there also is growth here in the development and use of drones.

“I would probably put Georgia somewhere on the leading edge (among states),” said Mark A. Dombroff, a Virginia-based aviation attorney for McKenna Long & Aldridge.

An even newer opportunity exists for the state to become a major player in space launches, the lawmakers were told. Community leaders in Camden County are assembling a parcel of property they want to buy and convert to a commercial space launch site.

A handful of companies are interested in using it now that NASA is relying on privately operated rockets as well as the growing market for placing commercial satellites. The Camden space port could keep hundreds of Georgia Tech trained engineers from taking jobs in California, Texas and Colorado each year, according to Robert Broun, a Tech professor.

“If we have the space port, it’s much easier for me to see research-and-development companies, deployment companies, all wanting to be around the space port,” he told the committee.

- Source:  http://savannahnow.com