The process of authorizing specific flights has bogged down, said Mark Dombroff, a partner in the drone practice of McKenna, Long and Aldridge. They must fill out and get FAA approval for a two-page “certificate of authority” before each flight specifying where, when and how long the drone will fly. Companies with approval to fly unmanned aircraft must obtain government permission each time they intend to use drones for a new project. Industry lobbyists have criticized the current process as too slow. Amazon hopes to develop drones capable of delivering packages to customer doorsteps. On Thursday, Amazon got FAA clearance to experiment with drones at an outdoor facility in Washington state under a different set of federal rules. Those companies could get more flexibility to use pilotless aircraft for rail and pipeline inspections, crop surveys and aerial photography for commercials or movies.Ĭompanies awaiting exemptions from the overall ban could also benefit, including Inc and Yamaha Motor Co. The rule changes also would be a boost for companies that already have exemptions from the commercial drone ban, such as Chevron, Berkshire Hathaway’s BNSF Railway Co, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co, and a number of film and media companies. The change in policy could be a positive signal to a wide swath of companies that are pushing for federal regulators to remove barriers to commercial uses of automated aircraft, and help foster growth of an emerging sector of manufacturers and service providers built around drone technology. The agency has been taking measured steps to ease restrictions on commercial use of drones.
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