The new drone rules do allow drones to carry loads, but the line-of-sight rule means that customers would have to be within viewing distance of the location anyway. The federal drone law is also including a ban on nighttime operations and requirements for pilots nationwide licensing.
For years, American businesses have been clamoring for the government to roll out a set of regulations for drone technology so that the companies can legally start using them for everything from agriculture to filmmaking to delivering packages.
However, the new rules are not the last word on the matter.
Added Lisa Ellman, co-chair of Hogal Lovells' unmanned aerial systems (UAS) practice and co-director of the Commercial Drone Alliance, in a statement: "Not only is this a milestone moment for CNN, this approval is a milestone for the commercial UAS industry as a whole".
The key rules for businesses are this: Do not fly at night or over anyone not involved in your operation.
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Under the new rules, operators can fly up to 400 feet above ground level, in general airspace without permission of the nearest air traffic control tower and within the line of sight of a pilot.
The rules governing the operation of small commercial drones were created to protect safety without stifling innovation, FAA Administrator Michael Huerta told a news conference.
According to the report, the FAA now says commercial drones must weigh less than 55 pounds, fly up to a maximum altitude of 400 feet and no faster than 100 miles per hour, and can only be operated during daytime, including up to 30 minutes before sunrise and after sunset.
The aviation program at the University of the District of Columbia Community College, which operates of the FAA's test site at Reagan National Airport, has reserved slots for more than 100 people seeking drone licenses within the next month, said Eric Johnson, the program's secretary.
Denny Wren sells drones at Hobbytown USA, has owned them for four years, and now he can finally use it commercially. This means that Amazon drones will not yet be delivering packages via drone for customers in the USA and although Domino's Pizza can deliver pizza in New Zealand, hungry people in the States will have to wait.
When asked how long that waiver process will take, Earl Lawrence, head of FAA's Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration Office, said, "It depends on what you ask for".
A list of Knowledge Testing Centers is issued by the FAA (PDF format). The FAA will mail a permanent Remote Pilot Certificate within 120 days. Under the new rules published Monday, everyone above the age of 16 may take an aeronautical knowledge test at an FAA-approved facility as well as pass a background check, after which he or she will be qualified to operate a drone, and receive a remote pilot certificate.
Testing also becomes available today.
