COVID-19 has changed a lot about civic life in the US — and around the world. Mayors and governors have issued sweeping stay-at-home orders, for instance. But while drones have made headlines with a few prominent deployments, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has not altered its strict regulations for the technology.
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The world’s largest drone manufacturer, DJI calculates the real cost of the Remote ID Rule to be $5.6 billion USD (yes with a ‘B’) instead of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) estimated $582 million USD. Nine times more over a ten year period than the FAA estimate. Guess who’s going to pay for that… the consumer, i.e. you.
With well over 50,000 comments on the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) NPRM for Remote ID for Drones, the agency has its work cut out. The exact number of comments as of yesterday was 50,847, but this will likely increase once the site has been updated. Obviously, the FAA will have to process and read the comments first, some people have submitted multi-page comments, but the obvious question is, What happens next? Vic Moss shared this document from the Federal Register’s website that shines some light on the next steps in the rule-making process.
Note: even though the official commenting period has ended and you can no longer submit your comments online if you still want to provide your comments to the FAA you can try sending them in by regular mail. It is likely that the FAA will still consider them if they arrive within a reasonable time.
The next Drone Advisory Committee takes place in Washington, D.C. on February 27th, 2020. The DAC plays a crucial role in advising the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) when it comes to developing new proposed rules such as the FAA’s NPRM on Remote ID for Drones. The DAC represents many different parties within the drone industry, however, hobbyist drone pilots or small commercial drone operators are not represented at all in this important committee. If you want to stay on top of the latest drone rulemaking developments, I suggest that you either attend the meeting in person or online. For details, see below.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) wants YOUR input on the Remote ID Proposal.
Today the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) announces a new coalition to put pressure on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to improve the Remote ID rule. The AMA states that a recent survey pointed out that almost 70% of the respondents (hobby shops) said that FAA regulations are the biggest threat to the model aircraft industry, and while this may not include the entire drone industry there’s definitely overlap between the two.
We are glad to see the AMA take further action and join us in the fight for a better Remote ID for drones. If you want to learn more about this issue that is a threat to our hobby and business as well I recommend clicking this link here and to download the Drone Advocacy Kit.
On Monday, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) proposed new safety standards for specific drones for package deliveries in the Federal Register. The move is seen as a crucial step in allowing routine package deliveries by drones in the not too distant future.
A pilot faces a year in federal prison for flying a drone during Super Bowl week. One year in prison for flying a drone in a Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) or No Drone Zone? It is becoming clear that the FBI and the FAA are done issuing warnings and are starting to show their teeth, as they said they would about a week ago.
On many fronts within the drone industry, people have been taking action to try and stop or change the current proposed rules for remote identification for drones, better known as the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) NPRM for Remote ID for Drones.
Today we learned that after delaying Remote ID for drones three times themselves, the FAA has denied a request from commenters to extend the 60-day commenting period that ends on March 2. The agency states that “subsequent delays in promulgation of a final rule implementing remote identification of UAS would not be consistent with the safety and security objectives of the proposed rule.”
Grab a cup of coffee and watch the video below in which Yahoo Finance interviews U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao about the latest developments in the transportation sector. Of course, drones are discussed as well for a good part of the interview. However, it seems that U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao fails to understand that the FAA’s NPRM for Remote ID kills the consumer drone hobby by severely restricting it and making it more expensive.
The Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) NPRM for Remote ID for drones is exactly the kind of top-down, command and control policy that the Secretary states the U.S. government is not into. The interview took place during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Just this morning we came across this video interview in which Joshua Bardwell interviews Dave Messina and Josh Cook from the FPV Freedom Coalition and talks about how the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) proposed rules for Remote ID for drones end the FPV hobby as we know it. If you’re an FPV pilot or if you are interested in learning more about how the NPRM (Notice of Proposed Rulemaking) is a threat to our ability to fly drones, not just for FPV pilots than this is a great interview to watch or listen to.
Ever since the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) proposed Remote ID standard was shared, many people within the industry, including DJI’s Brendan Schulman, have been worried about the effect it will have on the future of commercial and recreational drone pilots, including the ones who build drones themselves. Earlier this week, Rotor Riot released a video giving an overview of the situation and the effect it will have on the FPV community.
The main topic of discussion over the last few weeks has been the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) for Remote ID for drones that was released right after Christmas last year.
The NPRM as laid out in the 319-page document has the potential to put the future of drone innovation in the US at risk, according to DJI. The Chinese drone maker states that it strongly supports Remote ID for drones, but “not like this,” and warns people against the FAA’s “deeply flawed” NPRM.
Right after Chrismas, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking for remote identification of drones. The NPRM document that you can find here is currently unpublished and is scheduled to be officially published on December 31st, 2019, after which we will have 60 days to comment on it.
DJI is named as one of the partners to advise and make recommendations to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) concerning the UAS Aeronautical Knowledge and Safety Test. Together with partners such as Unmanned Safety Institute, Drone Racing League, Horizon Hobby, Academy of Model Aeronautics and others
U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Elaine L. Chao explains in an opinion piece, titled “Prioritizing safety in the drone revolution”, why safe and responsible drone flying is crucial to the future of the drone industry.
Drone pilot Reuben Burciaga was fined $20,000 by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) after his fly-away DJI Phantom 3 drone landed right next to an active runway at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. The drone incident took place in June of 2018 when Burciaga wanted to take an aerial photo of a Ferris wheel. Early on during the flight, he lost control of the DJI Phantom 3. The drone then slowly drifted for more than two miles towards the airport before landing right next to an active runway. The FAA issued the ‘careless and reckless” drone pilot a fine of $14,700 that increased to around $20,000 after Burciaga failed to pay or appeal on time. We have included the original video of the drone flight that was uploaded by Burciaga below.
Updated with the original flight logs of the DJI Phantom 3. You can download them here.
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) plans to shoot down drones near airports, as we saw in our story from earlier today, to “mitigate” the risk the unmanned aircraft pose to air traffic. The Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) Federal Air Marshal Service would operate a Defense Department counter-unmanned-aircraft system, according to new plans. Two Republican lawmakers, however, protested against the proposed “Concept of Operations.”
The Area 51 airspace will be closed to helicopters and drones during Storm Area 51 event. The planned event to “See them aliens” started out as a joke on Facebook, but has morphed into a potentially dangerous situation. More than 2 million people have said that they would attend the event, and as a precaution, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued two temporary flight restrictions (TFRs) for the airspace around Area 51 in Nevada for helicopters and drones starting this week. The infamous Area 51 is controlled by the US Department of Defense and the Department of Energy.
Do not attach weapons to your drone, FAA warns. This week the Federal Aviation Administration sent out a message in which the agency warns the general public that “it is illegal to operate a drone with a dangerous weapon attached.” Over the years, we have seen our fair share of drones with shotguns, flame throwers, and fireworks mounted on them. Mostly for fun, but the FAA and other government officials worry that weaponized drones might be used for other purposes. If you think that sounds farfetched just see how drones have been used in the MiddleEast. Using a drone with a dangerous weapon attached to it is in violation of Section 363 of the 2018 FAA Reauthorization Act. And, unless the drone operator has received special authorization from the FAA, he or she is subject to civil penalties up to $25,000 for each violation.
As part of the UAS Integration Pilot Program, Flytrex and Causey Aviation Unmanned received Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval to start making food deliveries by drone in Holly Springs in North Carolina.
Firefighters were forced to halt their fire fighting efforts due to a rogue drone flying above and around the Alaskan fire. Both the FAA and the local fire department have taken to social media to share their frustrations and concerns with rogue drones around fires.
Politico had a very detailed article with background on the new FAA leader Steve Dickson. It is definitely worth a read if you want to know who will be in charge of the Federal Aviation Administration for the foreseeable future.