U.S. to allow small drones to fly over people and at night
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[December 29, 2020] By
David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Small drones will be
allowed to fly over people and at night in the United States, the
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said on Monday, a significant step
toward their use for widespread commercial deliveries.
The FAA said its long-awaited rules for the drones, also known as
unmanned aerial vehicles, will address security concerns by requiring
remote identification technology in most cases to enable their
identification from the ground.
Previously, small drone operations over people were limited to
operations over people who were directly participating in the operation,
located under a covered structure, or inside a stationary vehicle -
unless operators had obtained a waiver from the FAA.
The rules will take effect 60 days after publication in the federal
register in January. Drone manufacturers will have 18 months to begin
producing drones with Remote ID, and operators will have an additional
year to provide Remote ID.
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There are other, more complicated rules that allow for operations at
night and over people for larger drones in some cases.
"The new rules make way for the further integration of drones into our
airspace by addressing safety and security concerns," FAA Administrator
Steve Dickson said. "They get us closer to the day when we will more
routinely see drone operations such as the delivery of packages."
Companies have been racing to create drone fleets to speed deliveries.
The United States has over 1.7 million drone registrations and 203,000
FAA-certificated remote pilots.
For at-night operations, the FAA said drones must be equipped with
anti-collision lights. The final rules allow operations over moving
vehicles in some circumstances.
Remote ID is required for all drones weighing 0.55 lb (0.25 kg) or more,
but is required for smaller drones under certain circumstances like
flights over open-air assemblies.
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![](../images/122920PIX/busine21.jpg)
A drone demonstrates delivery capabilities from the top of a UPS
truck during testing in Lithia, Florida, U.S. February 20, 2017.
REUTERS/Scott Audette/File Photo
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The new rules eliminate requirements that drones be connected to the internet to
transmit location data but do that they broadcast remote ID messages via radio
frequency broadcast. Without the change, drone use could have been barred from
use in areas without internet access.
The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International said Remote ID will
function as "a digital license plate for drones ... that will enable more
complex operations" while operations at night and over people "are important
steps towards enabling integration of drones into our national airspace."
One change, since the rules were first proposed in 2019, requires that small
drones not have any exposed rotating parts that would lacerate human skin.
United Parcel Service Inc said in October 2019 that it won the government's
first full approval to operate a drone airline.
Last year, Alphabet's Wing, a sister unit of search engine Google, was the first
company to get U.S. air carrier certification for a single-pilot drone
operation.
In August, Amazon.com Inc’s drone service received federal approval allowing the
retailer to begin testing commercial deliveries through its drone fleet.
Walmart Inc said in September it would run a pilot project for delivery of
grocery and household products through automated drones but acknowledged "it
will be some time before we see millions of packages delivered via drone."
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(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Nick Zieminski and Howard Goller)
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