Last week, the U.S. Army issued a memorandum discontinuing the use of DJI drone products due to cybersecurity concerns. The memorandum said, “Due to increased awareness of cyber vulnerabilities associated with DJI products,...more
North Carolina Governor, Roy Cooper, signed two bills this week to regulate the use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS or drones). First, House Bill 337 revises existing state drone law to make that existing state drone law...more
The Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Part 107 waiver process for the operation of unmanned aerial systems (UAS or drones) in certain restricted airspace or beyond the limitations of the Part 107 UAS regulations, was...more
In the last few weeks, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization bills have made their way around both houses of Congress, which will allow funding to the FAA to continue beyond Fall 2017....more
In Washington, D.C. last week, the U.S. House of Representatives Unmanned Systems Caucus and the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) held a briefing for congressional staff on technologies that...more
By Fall 2017, fifty U.S. airports swill start allowing unmanned aircraft systems’ (UAS or drone) operators apply for automated authorizations to fly in controlled airspace around those airports. Specifically, these airports...more
Taking off from the Blackpool airport in England, a drone owned by a private company called FlyLogix, set a British record last week after successfully completing a 50-mile offshore beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) round...more
CNN’s Aerial Imagery and Reporting (CNN AIR) unit received its Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Part 107 waiver last week for closed-set drone operations over people for motion picture and television filming. This is the...more
More and more utility companies are finding drones (or more formally, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV)) useful, and cost effective, to inspect power lines in lieu of sending up their employees to carry out the dangerous task....more
Governor of Virginia, Terry McAuliffe, recently cut the ribbon on a new runway in Virginia dedicated solely to unmanned aerial systems (UAS or drones). The Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s UAS Airfield is a 3,000-foot runway...more
On July 1, 2017, a new law in the State of Florida became effective in order to keep “local governments from regulating drone and model aircraft operations” in the State, while in turn, “protecting those who fly safely and...more
On June 16, 2017, Transport Canada, the department within the government of Canada which is responsible for developing regulations, policies and services of transportation in the country, issued an Interim Order (“the Order”)...more
Yet another piece of drone legislation is in circulation; the Safe DRONE Act of 2017 was recently introduced by U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner, John Hoeven, Catherine Cortez Masto, and Dean Heller. ...more
7/10/2017
/ Airspace ,
Commercial Use ,
Department of Transportation (DOT) ,
Drones ,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ,
Privacy Concerns ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Technology Sector ,
Trump Administration ,
Two For One Rule ,
Unmanned Aircraft Systems
We previously wrote about the Drone Federalism Act introduced earlier this month, and now, another bill is seeking to regulate drones at the local level. The Drone Innovation Act, H.R. 2930, introduced by Jason Lewis of...more
According to recent studies and statistics, unmanned aerial systems (or drones) promise to have the most dynamic growth of any sector in the aerospace industry. With the ease of airspace regulations and operational...more
Over the past decade, since the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) first permitted the use of drones for commercial and hobbyist purposes, after the 2012 directive of Congress for the FAA to come up with a “comprehensive...more
The town of Garfield, New Jersey has introduced new regulations related to hobbyist drone operation—or better yet, the non-operation of drones above residences other than your own, commercial zones, roadways, government or...more
The Drone Federalism Act of 2017, introduced by U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein, Mike Lee, Richard Blumenthal, and Tom Cotton, seeks to “establish a process for federal, state, local and tribal governments to work together to...more
As more drones take to the skies in Nevada, which is home to one of only six of the country’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Unmanned Autonomous Systems (UAS) Designated Test Sites, officials are trying to figure out...more
6/5/2017
/ Air Traffic Control Systems ,
Airlines ,
Airspace ,
Aviation Industry ,
Commercial Use ,
Drones ,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ,
NASA ,
Technology Sector ,
Transportation Industry ,
Unmanned Aircraft Systems
Drone data is used in construction (3-D mapping, site surveying), agriculture (crop mapping), energy (solar and wind turbine monitoring), insurance (roof inspections), infrastructure (inspection), communications (damage...more
Amazon announced this week that its development of an air-traffic control system for its package delivery drones (and other commercial drones flying in the national airspace) has taken off –pun intended. This air-traffic...more
The commercial drone market is booming. While estimates certainly vary, many research firms say that the worldwide market value will rise from $2 billion today to over $10 million within the next 10 years. Similar to the GPS...more
By 2020, it is estimated that 7 million drones will be flying around the country delivering packages, taking photos, inspecting infrastructure or conducting search and rescue missions. However, before that happens, we will...more
A 27-year old resident of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Jonathan Kolleh, was arrested and spent 14 hours in a holding cell last week for flying his drone in the vicinity of the National Football League (NFL) Draft. Kolleh began...more
5/15/2017
/ Airspace ,
Commercial Use ,
Drones ,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ,
Football ,
Motion Picture Industry ,
NFL ,
Popular ,
Privacy Concerns ,
Public Safety ,
Recklessness ,
Technology Sector ,
Unmanned Aircraft Systems
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), 4,836 workers were killed on the job in 2015—that means, if you break it down, that more than 90 workers lost their lives each week on jobsites. These...more
5/8/2017
/ Airspace ,
Commercial Use ,
Drones ,
Emergency Response ,
Industrial Space ,
OSHA ,
Public Safety ,
Technology Sector ,
Unmanned Aircraft Systems ,
Workplace Hazards ,
Workplace Injury