Michael Huerta
The Federal Aviation Administration’s review of proposed regulations for unmanned aerial vehicles took a promising turn for operators last week when the FAA said it was adding several studies to better measure the use of the devices.
Those studies include “visual line-of-sight operations in urban areas” in which CNN will monitor how to use UAVs for news-gathering in populated locations. UAV use in crop monitoring and rail system inspections will also be studied by partners with the FAA.
“Even as we pursue our current rulemaking effort for small unmanned aircraft, we must continue to actively look for future ways to expand non-recreational UAS uses,” FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said in a news release announcing the studies. “This new initiative involving three leading U.S. companies will help us anticipate and address the needs of the evolving UAS industry.”
The FAA also promoted a new application, dubbed “B4UFLY,” which is designed to inform users — namely model aircraft and UAV operators — whether they can safely and legally fly in an area. The app is scheduled for beta testing this summer.
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