BizTech Law Blog

Incoming: Recent News on FAA Drone Approval

The Federal Aviation Administration is considering several petitions for commercial use of low-risk unmanned aircrafts, commonly called drones. Although the most widely-publicized interest in commercial drone use came from Amazon's Jeff Bezos late last year, commercial interest exists for a variety of other uses including both filmmaking and farming.

In a June 2, 2014 press release, the FAA announced that it was considering petitions from seven commercial movie and TV production companies. If granted, those businesses would be exempt from regulations that address general flight rules, pilot license certificate requirements, manuals, maintenance, and equipment mandates. This development comes after the FAA announced in May that it was considering an expedited "fast track" process for low-risk drones.

The press release also mentioned that the FAA is considering petitions from commercial operations in "precision agriculture," "power line and pipeline inspection," and "oil and gas flare stack inspection." One recent article highlighted the story of Cy Brown, who received a cease and desist letter from the FAA after using a drone equipped with night vision technology to locate feral wild pigs that are notorious for harming farmers' crops in Louisiana.

The FAA predicts that once the exemptions are enabled, roughly 7,500 commercial drones will be actively flying in the United States. Other potential uses include:

• firefighters could gather real-time information on a fire;
• real estate companies could create aerial video tours of homes; and
• law enforcement information-gathering.

Responding to reports of a gunman locked in his home last fall, a sheriff in Oakland County, MI sent his deputy to buy a $300 "Quadricopter" from Brookstone, which he used to see inside the house before sending in officers.

Although many uses for drones have been identified, they are not without risks. The FAA previously announced that a drone nearly collided with a jet over Tallahassee, FL and highlighted the potential hazard of an airliner engine ingesting a drone. While conventional aircraft include advanced collision-avoidance systems, such technology for drones is still far from reality, and could cost as much as $2 billion to develop.

Users of drones should consider potential legal issues surrounding drone use, such as, for example, trespass and nuisance causes of action and privacy laws.

Categories: News

Posted by: Taylor Gast (Summer Associate)