The Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Transportation have finalized the first operational rules for “routine commercial use of small unmanned aircraft.” The new rules cover drones weighing less than 55 pounds that are “conducting non-hobbyist operations.” (TVSpy)
The FAA in 2014 granted a waiver to a number of aerial photo and video companies to use drones, as it worked on a final set of regulations. In general, the drone must remain within the line of sight of the operator and “pilot.” It may operate only in daylight or twilight, and can go as high as 400 feet above ground level. The person flying a drone must have a remote pilot certificate with a small unmanned aircraft rating, or be directly supervised by someone with such a certificate. (Variety)
The MPAA had earlier submitted comments during the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Process, and played a key role two years ago when the FAA began to grant aerial production companies exemptions from the exiting rules that limited drone use, allowing for approvals for drones to be used for filming on domestic movie and TV productions. (THR)
However, much of what’s outlined in those new rules pretty much dashes the hopes of Amazon, Walmart and others who want to start air-dropping products to our homes. So while these new rules do lay the much-needed groundwork for commercial drone operation in U.S. airspace, they leave little (but not no) wiggle room for any use cases besides search and rescue operations and research. (Mashable)
