() The United States could soon ease its rules for flying commercial drones beyond an operator’s direct line of sight, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed Tuesday at a press briefing.
The 731-page proposed regulation would eliminate the current case-by-case, waiver-based process needed to fly a drone Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS).
The shift could “unleash American drone dominance” and have wide-reaching affects on the manufacturing, farming, energy production, filmmaking, delivery and medical industries, Duffy said. Remotely piloted drones could travel over longer distances to deliver packages, inspect infrastructure and assist in multi-acre farming tasks.
“Industry needs this rule to make sure they can use this technology that’s going to allow them to do business more efficiently and effectively,” he said.
Aircraft would fly at or below 400 feet above ground level, and some could weigh up to 1,320 lbs.
Detection technology would prevent drones from interfering with “operations and traffic patterns at airports, heliports, seaplane bases, space launch” and more sites, the proposal’s fact cheek says.
Both recreational pilots and commercial operators are currently required to keep their drones within either the pilot’s or a visual observer’s unaided line of sight, per FAA guidance.
The proposed rule would scrap that. Industry leaders have 60 days for comment before it is put into effect.
“Today we have drones in operation in our skies. It’s not as regulated perhaps as it should be. It’s done on an ad hoc basis, which makes it very, very difficult to manage, and it makes for an uneven playing field as well which is frankly a headwind,” FAA Administrator Brian Bedford said.
The FAA and DOT will partner with TSA to ensure that operations supervisors and flight coordinators are properly vetted, Duffy said.
In March, Duffy said the Federal Aviation Administration planned to propose rules in a “relatively short” timeframe that would expand the use of drones for services including deliveries, Reuters reported.
“We’re in the stages of developing a rule to make sure we can give more authority and clarity to those who are developing these drones,” Duffy told reporters while on a tour of the Amazon Prime Air drone headquarters.
Multiple federal and state agencies have increased their use of drones in recent months, with police departments deploying drones to assist with calls and U.S. Customs and Border Protection placing surveillance blimps alongside the Texas-Mexico border.
“Drones are happening. Bad actors can use drones in a bad way … the government is focused on getting technology right and security right,” Bedford said.
