Drone Regulations

Three European associations are linking up in their collective effort to speed development of urban air mobility (UAM). By coordinating their work, the trio hopes to usher in the era of routine drone operation in human transport, delivery, and emergency services across the European Union (EU).

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has taken an additional step toward the day when beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drone operation will be routine. After last week’s announcement it had created a new committee to propose BVLOS regulations, on Monday the FAA tapped safety avionics technology company Iris Automation to participate in that rule-making process.

The Federal Aviation Committee (FAA) is creating a new committee to work up rules to allow routine beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drone operations. The development was announced at the virtual FAA Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Symposium.

New York’s Syracuse hospital and its drone industry partners have successfully completed a year-long trial of unmanned aerial vehicle medical deliveries, yet doubts remain about when those operations may become reality.

The Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in Orange County, California, is supposed to be a safe haven for nesting and breeding birds. But over the last two weeks, the 1,300-acre coastal estuary has turned into a mass burial ground for unborn elegant terns. And reckless drone pilots are to blame.

Drone pilots in Canada have a new tool at their disposal. NAV Canada, the country’s air navigation service provider, has released a new app that will allow pilots to quickly tell where they can and cannot fly, as well as offering a rapid approval process for flights in controlled airspace.

In February 2021, a drone pilot in Auckland was slapped with a $1,000 fine after he crashed his drone into a trainee paraglider. The conviction was the first of its kind in New Zealand. Now, that pilot is appealing the sentence, saying the conviction would gravely affect his future career prospects.

Aviation solutions startup Airspace Link knows that drone operations can often be confusing for both pilots and the communities they fly in. This is why it has developed a GIS-based digital mapping tool that fuses the needs of both federal and local governments to help drone pilots make informed decisions. And now, the Detroit-based company has raised a cool $10 million in Series A funding to advance its mission.

The rapid increase of drone use in a variety of enterprise activities has made upgrading their regulation both inevitable and anticipated. One such revamp is now in the works following a National Transport Safety Board (NTSB) decision to expand its criteria for examining accidents involving commercial drones.

Are you a drone pilot in the US, Canada, or one of the EU countries? If you haven’t yet registered your drone, now’s a great time to do so.

OK. We’ll admit that headline might not hook all of you. But with drone Fleet Management tools and autonomous deliveries, it’s a big issue for the industry – and it made for a fascinating panel discussion on the closing day of this year’s XPONENTIAL online conference.

One of the challenges regulators have is getting across their message. In this example, the folks from the comms department of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) have really nailed it.

AUVSI’s big XPONENTIAL conference is continuing for another day. We took in an expert panel discussing the challenges – and the promise – of Beyond Visual Line of Sight.

Everyone’s aware the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) recently altered rules on drone operation, but what are the salient changes involved? Step this way and DroneDJ will explain.

Bills introduced in several US state legislatures have the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) and the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) concerned. The reason? Such bills could restrict where you can fly your drone – and potentially even charge fees.

An online drone Flight Review network is launching in Canada. It aims to make things easier for drone operators seeking a Flight Review, where a Transport Canada-endorsed Flight Reviewer observes proficiency with flying and quizzes the pilot about airspace and other safety regulations.

It has been, thankfully, a while since we’ve seen someone do something really stupid with a drone. That streak of relative sanity has come to an end with this video.

A Canadian hunter has learned the hard way that drones and guns don’t mix – at least not in British Columbia. There aren’t a ton of details available, but we’ll tell you what we know.

Drones with live video feeds have become a major concern in the world of horse racing. The devices are being used to give bettors an unfair advantage for “live” betting. And yes, this is news to us as well.

In what appears to be a first, a drone pilot has pleaded guilty to colliding his drone into a Los Angeles Police Department helicopter. It’s believed to be the first criminal conviction in the United States for unsafe operation of an unmanned aircraft.

The FAA is hoping a new reminder, along with some graphics, might result in people keeping their drones well clear of stadiums at game-time.