On August 2, the Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”) Director, Michael Huerta, while speaking at the “White House Drone Day,” indicated that the FAA was open to the potential use of commercial unmanned aircraft systems (“UAS”), or drones, over populated areas. Director Huerta’s comments come several weeks before the FAA’s new UAS rule goes into effect, a rule that some commentators criticized as too restrictive.
On June 21, the FAA released its final rule covering the commercial use of UAS weighing up to 55 pounds, officially known as Part 107 of the Federal Aviation Regulations. The rule, which goes into effect on August 29, restricts the use of UAS to maximum ground speed of 100 miles per hour, a maximum height of 400 feet, to operation during daylight, and requires that UAS stay within the operator’s line of sight. The rule also requires that operators receive a “remote pilot airman” certificate by passing an aeronautical knowledge test at an FAA-approved testing center. Operators can request a waiver of most operational restrictions if they can show that their proposed operation can be conducted safely under a waiver.
Under the new rule, individuals and companies that have been eager to use UAS for news gathering, agricultural, land surveying, or photography purposes, in most cases, no longer have to go through the cumbersome and expensive waiver process. However, the new rule still restricts a variety of commercial activities like package delivery services and other activities involving flights over people.
In an apparent response to these critics, Director Huerta noted that the FAA has been researching UAS-related issues such as beyond line-of-sight operation and operations over people, and he expected there to be further rulemaking progress in these areas. Director Huerta emphasized that “safely integrating drones into our airspace is one of the FAA’s top priorities” and the United States’ UAS industry will “continue being a model for the rest of the world.” In the last eight months, the FAA has registered more than 500,000 UAS. By comparison, the FAA only has 320,000 registered manned aircraft.
