DJI, a supplier of approximately 70 percent of all drones in the United States, announced this week that it will begin manufacturing some of its products in the U.S. DJI plans to repurpose a warehouse in Cerritos, California to assemble a new version of a drone that has been popular among federal and local government
drones
FAA Approves Beyond-Visual-Line-of-Sight Operations at North Dakota UAS Test Site
Last week, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) unmanned aircraft systems (UAS or drone) operations at a test site in North Dakota. With this approval, operators can now develop, test, and evaluate new applications for UAS technology at the Northern Plains UAS Test Site. North Dakota Senator John Hoeven said, “This authorization will…
New Tool for Companies Seeking Qualified Drone Pilots
As more and more drones enter the skies, more and more companies are seeking qualified drone pilots to operate Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) for their business. Skyward, a drone operations management platform, has now released “Pilot Finder,” an easy way for companies to find qualified UAS pilots who also meet certain job requirements. Pilot Finder’s…
EPIC Challenges FAA’s Final Drone Rule for Lack of Privacy Protections
The Electronic Information Privacy Center (EPIC) filed a complaint against the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) this week alleging that the final drone rule (Part 107) fails to include privacy regulations. EPIC claims that it has made previous attempts to ensure that the FAA “adequately addresses the privacy implications of drone deployment” to no avail. EPIC…
Drones increasingly used by State Departments of Transportation across the country
Across the United States, state Departments of Transportation (DOT) are using or testing drones to conduct bridge inspections, accident assessments, surveys and to conduct risk mitigation. A recent report by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials found that 17 state DOTs are using drones in these ways, and an additional 16 DOTs…
Connecticut Audubon Society joins the no drone zone list
Drones are no longer permitted at 19 of the Connecticut Audubon Society’s (CAS) sanctuaries because of the annoyance to visitors and harassment of wildlife. This is one of the first in the country, and certainly the first in Connecticut, to establish a ‘no-drone’ policy. To date, there has only been a couple drone-related incidents in…
Is point-of-sale drone registration next? Retailers say no way
In the first 30-days of drone registration, nearly 300,000 owners have registered their drones. The Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) small drone user registration has sparked much debate, and now, the FAA is considering a change in their regulations to require immediate registration upon purchase. This point-of-sale registration would force retailers to become part of the…
EPIC files suit against FAA for lackadaisical drone privacy regulations
On March 31, 2015, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) filed a petition against the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) with the D.C. Circuit court asking that the court review the FAA’s proposed rule on commercial drone use, which was released in February of this year, for its failure to include appropriate privacy safeguards. While the…
FAA approves Amazon’s second request to test its delivery drones in the skies
While Amazon.com Inc. (Amazon) did receive approval to fly its test drones from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) back in March of this year for its July 2014 request, that approval proved to be useless after Amazon updated its drone technology before receiving its first approval. The FAA’s drone approval process was conducted slower than…
Amazon gets FAA approval to use drones for test fly delivery
In February 2015, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released a framework for how it plans to oversee the operation of small drones weighing 55 pounds or less. Now, on March 20, 2015, the FAA has come to an agreement with Amazon.com Inc. (Amazon), and issued it an online retailer experimental airworthiness certificate, to permit it…