(Bloomberg) -- Don’t hold your breath waiting for a drone
to drop off that order from Amazon.com Inc. or that large
pepperoni pie dinner from your favorite pizza joint.
The U.S. government’s first attempt at widespread approval
for the use of small unmanned aircraft could change how some
everyday business activities get done, bridge inspections being
one. It may produce at least $100 million in economic benefits,
according to an analysis by President Barack Obama’s
administration.
What it won’t allow are the kind of autonomous flights
envisioned by companies including Amazon.com Inc., Google Inc.
and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. At least not yet. Even the
initial uses are at least two years away.
“This is not the last word, by any means,” Michael
Huerta, chief of the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, told
reporters on a conference call Sunday from Washington.
For the time being, the FAA has concluded that small drones
for hire must be flown within sight of an operator and away from
crowds for safety reasons.
Those restrictions will not only prevent Amazon from making
deliveries by drone, they may limit other uses companies were
awaiting, such as long-range pipeline inspections and news-media
photography of public events, according to Patrick Egan, an
editor at the informational website suasnews.com who
participated in the industry committee that advised the FAA on
the rule proposal.
“It is pretty limiting, but we need to open the door
somewhere,” Egan said in an interview.
The FAA identified at least four areas where it said small
unmanned aircraft can be beneficial: photography, agriculture,
law enforcement and search and rescue, and inspecting structures
such as bridges and telecommunications towers.
More Study
The Washington-based Small UAV Coalition, which represents
Amazon and Google, said the proposal while welcome was too
cautious on several fronts.
Allowing drones to fly longer distances using video and
other sensors for guidance “is critical to unleashing the power
of automation in this space,” the group said in an e-mailed
statement.
The FAA should also give drone operators more leeway to fly
over people who aren’t involved in the flight operation, it
said.
The regulator, other government agencies and industry
groups are studying new technology that may someday allow the
Amazons of the world more freedom to fly, Huerta said.
Those technologies include how to install devices that will
sense other drones or obstructions so unmanned craft can avoid
collisions, he said.
The agency also has a process to grant waivers allowing
broader uses if companies can show it is safe, he said.
‘First Step’
Amazon didn’t immediately respond to e-mailed requests for
comment.
Even companies willing to live by the restrictions won’t be
able to operate immediately. The FAA must review what probably
will be an onslaught of public comments seeking changes to the
proposal, a process that may take years. An FAA policy statement
on hobby-drone flights last year drew more than 30,000 comments.
The regulations may not be completed until 2017 at the
soonest, Gerald Dillingham, the Government Accountability
Office’s director of physical infrastructure issues, told
Congress at a Dec. 10 hearing.
“This is a good first step in an evolutionary process,”
said Brian Wynne, president and chief executive officer of the
Arlington, Virginia-based Association for Unmanned Vehicle
Systems International. The rule was “long overdue,” he said.
Congress mandated in 2012 that the FAA, which primarily
regulates piloted airplanes, find a way to safely integrate
unmanned aircraft in U.S. skies by Sept. 30, 2015, a deadline
that the government had already said won’t be met.
‘Great Day’
Helen Greiner, the CEO of CyPhy Works Inc., said it’s still
“a great day for drones.” Her Danvers, Massachusetts-based
company develops unmanned aerial vehicles for use in the real
estate, agricultural, security and energy industries.
Greiner said she was relieved that commercial drone
operators won’t have to obtain a traditional pilot’s license.
The FAA has proposed that operators must be at least 17 years
old and pass a knowledge test.
“This provides a glimmer of hope for potential commercial
operators” of drone technology, Charles Easterling, founder of
Crescent Unmanned Systems LLC, said in a telephone interview.
“There are a lot of startups out there that have been waiting
for this and for potential users, it sets their minds at ease.”
Real Estate
Chris Polychron, president of the National Association of
Realtors, said the FAA proposal is “good news for property
owners and Realtors who desire to embrace cutting-edge
technology to enhance the process of buying and selling real
estate with images gathered by unmanned aerial vehicles.”
At the same time, the group discouraged its members from
using drones to photograph properties because the practice,
while openly advertised by some companies, isn’t yet allowed
without an FAA exemption. The agency has granted permission to
only one real-estate photography business.
Representative Rick Larsen, a Washington Democrat who is
his party’s highest ranking member on the House aviation
subcommittee, defended the FAA’s approach.
“Given the magnitude of the safety implications, we must
give the FAA credit for proceeding with caution,” Larsen said
in an e-mailed release.
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