Proposed commercial drone rules aren't nearly as restrictive as anticipated

[Shawn Knight]

Commercial drones may have a future in US airspace after all. The Federal Aviation Administration has published its long-awaited proposal for unmanned commercial aircraft and while they’re much less lax than anticipated, package delivery services like Amazon Prime Air will remain sidelined for the foreseeable future.

The proposal – which covers unmanned aircraft weighing less than 55 pounds – mandates that drones must only be flown during the day, within line of sight of its operator at an altitude no higher than 500 feet and at speeds not exceeding 100 mph. That doesn't bode well for Prime Air.

Furthermore, aircraft shouldn’t fly over people (other than those operating it) and never near manned aircraft. The operator must perform a preflight inspection before takeoff and is only allowed to operate a single aircraft at any given time.

The FAA also mandates that drones shouldn’t be operated in a careless of reckless manner although that seems rather obvious.

Those wishing to operate a drone for commercial purposes, known as operators, must be at least 17 years of age, pass an aeronautical knowledge test at an FAA-approved testing facility, be vetted by the Transportation Security Administration, obtain an unmanned aircraft operator certificate and pass recurring tests every two years.

The proposal is open to public comment over the next 60 days and although Congress set a deadline of 2015 to come up with a set of rules, it could take well over a year before the rules become law.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/59761-proposed-commercial-drone-rules-arent-nearly-restrictive-anticipated.html

 

[stewi0001]

If it has to stay in the line of sight, that basically makes package deliveries pointless. However, it's still good to use it to do inspections. For example, if they need to do a visual inspection on a tall crane or something like that.

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

Proposed commercial drone rules aren't nearly as restrictive as anticipated.

Those wishing to operate a drone for commercial purposes, known as operators, must be at least 17 years of age, pass an aeronautical knowledge test at an FAA-approved testing facility, be vetted by the Transportation Security Administration, obtain an unmanned aircraft operator certificate and pass recurring tests every two years.

that's still pretty restrictive. It's WAY more requirements than driving a 3000 pound car 65 mph surrounded by other moving cars. So basically people can use them only as remote controlled toys?

 

[captaincranky]

So basically people can use them only as remote controlled toys?

What the FAA basically did, is rubber stamp the rules for RC model aircraft, and apply them to drones. On top of which, they're making you take a test, along with recurring proficiency retests.

You don't need any of that to fly RC, fixed wing or Helo! In fact, ducted AND some actual turbojet models, will make close to 200MPH, possibly more

In point of fact, (AFAIK, although the last time I checked on ultra lights was probably 3 decades ago)...,you don't even need that to kill yourself with an ultra light.

I think this is glorious rebuke of Amazon's CEO. Petty despots in the private sector need to be put in their place from time to time. After all, the guy from Amazon, thinks the public is supposed to tolerate drone aircraft flying over their heads, just so Amazon can look good. If you think about it, because one person on a block is getting a package, the other hundred or so would have to, "keep looking up". Not to mention the swath of populated area that might have to be overflown to get to that one block. I think this edit from the FAA is worthwhile, simply to apply the system of checks and balances to this CEO's dreams of world domination, while dissolving his delusions of grandeur.