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 The Federal Aviation Administration said it would allow
filming with drones provided the aircraft weigh 55 pounds (25
kg) or less, are used within sight of the remote pilot, who must
hold a private pilot's license, and are flown under 400 feet
(120 meters) in altitude, among other restrictions.
The approval marks a major advance for the growing drone
industry, which is expected to generate billions of dollars in
economic activity once restrictions on commercial use of drones
are removed. The FAA currently bans most commercial drone
flights, but is required by Congress to integrate drones into
the U.S. airspace in coming years.
"This is the first step to allowing the film and television
industry to use unmanned aircraft systems in our nation's
airspace, and it's a milestone in the wider effort to allow
unmanned aircraft for many different types of commercial use,"
Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said in a conference call.
The six companies that received FAA exemptions from the drone
ban are Astraeus Aerial, Aerial MOB LLC, HeliVideo Productions
LLC, Pictorvision Inc, RC Pro Productions Consulting LLC dba
Vortex Aerial, and Snaproll Media, LLC.
The FAA said it has asked for additional information from
Flying-Cam Inc, a seventh aerial video company that filed for
exemptions with this group in June. The agency said it is
working closely with the company to obtain the information.
In granting the exemptions, the FAA barred the six companies
from making drone flights at night, required that flights take
place on sets closed to the public, and said operators must
inspect the aircraft before each flight.
The film and television industry hailed the FAA decision.
"Today's announcement is a great victory for the industry but
also a great victory for audiences," Chris Dodd, chairman and
chief executive officer of the Motion Picture Association of
America, said on the conference call.
Dodd noted that drones have been used in other countries to film
scenes in such movies as the James Bond film "Skyfall" and the
"Harry Potter" series. "This is going to bring a lot of business
back home to the United States," he said.
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The drone industry has mushroomed in recent years with the arrival
of small, inexpensive remote-control aircraft that can carry
cameras, sensors or other equipment that makes them useful for a
wide range of uses, from inspecting oil pipelines to crop dusting to
locating people lost in the wilderness.
The drone industry would create at least 70,000 U.S. jobs in the
first three years after the aircraft are integrated into U.S.
airspace, and generate nearly $14 billion in economic activity,
according to the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems
International, a trade group.
The FAA's approval shows the agency working relatively quickly to
approve new uses, since the petitions for exemptions were filed in
May and June. Under law, the agency had to respond to the requests
in 120 days, said attorney Jonathan Hill, of counsel at Cooley LLP,
who filed the exemption requests to the FAA.
"It's for the six specific companies on closed-set filming," said
Hill. "It's restrictive and regulatory in nature. But it's a welcome
first step."
The exemptions come as the FAA is still drafting proposed rules for
integrating commercial drones into the national airspace. A draft
set of those rules is circulating in Washington, according to
industry sources, but the FAA is widely expected to miss a deadline
of publishing the draft rules this year.
Final approval is expected to be years away, which means exemptions
like those granted on Thursday are the only way businesses can
legally get permission to use them.
Last year, the U.S. government created six sites for testing broader
commercial uses, in Alaska, Nevada, New York, North Dakota, Texas
and Virginia.
Among the potential uses: Google Inc has said it is developing
airborne drones capable of flying on their own and delivering
anything from candy to medicine. Amazon.com Inc announced plans last
year to use drones to make home deliveries.
(Reporting by Eric Beech; Editing by Sandra Maler, Marguerita Choy
and Ken Wills)
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