New government rules unleash commercial drones

The rule could generate more than $82 billion for the US economy and create more than 100,000 new jobs over the next 10 years, according to industry estimates.

While the FAA does not regulate privacy issues with UAS, the new rule encourages operators to check local and state laws before gathering information with UAS technology.

The Obama administration unveiled new rules Tuesday that will allow for low-level drone flights, but only within sight of an operator and not over people. The rules also noted that an operator can fly a commercial drone without a certificate if they are supervised by someone who has been certified, opening up the possibility that multiple drones could be operated by a team with only a single certified operator who acts as an overseer.

Asked specifically about the possibility for drone delivery, Huerta said, “We have a lot of research and pathfinder activities that are under way”. We make drones work.

Earlier this year, the Senate passed an aviation bill that would require the FAA to issue regulations within two years to enable drone deliveries. Night-time flights, flights beyond what the operator can see or flights over people not associated with the operation could be approved by waiver if the applicant demonstrates how the flights will be safe, Huerta said.

Officials called the regulations a first step toward integrating unmanned aircraft into the nation’s carefully controlled skies.

“While it’s exciting that commercial drones are finally legal, the FAA missed an opportunity to remove many unnecessary restrictions on the use of this promising technology”, said Eli Dourado, director of the Technology Policy Program at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. Economic research from CTA says the USA will reach one million drone flights per day within the next 20 years, given the right regulatory environment. Drone pilots may not fly over anyone not directly participating in the operation.

According to industry estimates, the rule could generate more than $82 billion for the USA economy and create more than 100,000 new jobs over the next 10 years. This one-off approval process, however, has been the target of criticism by lawmakers and drone industry groups in the past, who say that regulators are moving too slowly.

Corrupt governments are using them to spy on their people, farmers are using drones to survey their land and count their herd, filmmakers and photographers are using them to capture aerial images, and some companies are even looking into using drones to make deliveries. The same security considerations that ban nongovernment airplanes from flying over the District of Columbia would apply to use of drones. Other U.S. companies that have been working with the FAA on expanding drone operations, such as PrecisionHawkin Raleigh, North Carolina, and AirMap Inc. of Santa Monica, California, also stand to benefit.

While that effectively precludes the sort of robo-delivery services being developed by Amazon and other major vendors, the new rules will nonetheless ensure drones become increasingly commonplace in the skies.

Instead, the FAA is not requiring drones to comply with current agency airworthiness standards or aircraft certification like plans and helicopters. Gray Television hadn’t used drones yet, although many businesses have done so by seeking an exemption from the FAA.

“Beyond that, the operations that are defined in the rule are operations that can be conducted as of right, and if (operators) desire to look at things beyond visual line of sight, for example, then they go through the new waiver process that is defined in the rule”. Pilots and others reported to FAA seeing drones 1,346 times from November 2014 through January 2016.