New legal regulations for commercial drone pilots in the US come into effect today. The rules were outlined by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) back in June, and cover unmanned aircraft weighing less than 55 pounds (25 kilograms) that are being flown for "routine non-hobbyist use."
You can check out a full summary of the guidelines from the FAA, but these are the main points:
- Drones have to remain in visual line of sight of the pilot — no first-person-view cameras
- Pilots must be at least 16 years old
- Operation is only allowed during daylight hours or twilight with appropriate lighting
- Maximum groundspeed of 100 mph and maximum altitude of 400 feet
- Pilots must hold a "remote pilot airman certificate" issued by the FAA
These rules do not cover traditional model airplanes and nor do they apply to drone delivery operations being developed by the likes of Amazon and Google. (That's because these are based on using autonomous technology guiding the drones, rather than human pilots.) Instead, the rules will govern simpler tasks such as surveying, real estate photography, and site inspections. These may not be the most revolutionary drone uses, but they're still key to building up a new industry. Delivery by drone will have to wait.