The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a request for information (RFI) last week asking unmanned aerial systems (UAS or drone) stakeholders for input regarding the creation of a new aeronautical knowledge test for recreational drone operators. The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 (the Act) requires new conditions to operate recreational small UAS; however, right now,

A beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) flight of a drone traveled along the Trans-Alaska pipeline system (TAPS) this month, led by a team from the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration. Operators flew the drone along 3.87 miles of TAPS, using onboard and ground-based detection systems (instead of human observers) to detect and

At the beginning of 2019, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Kittyhawk, an unmanned aerial systems (UAS or drone) service provider, announced a partnership to update the FAA’s B4UFly app. The newly updated app was released last week for drone operators (both commercial and recreational alike), which now determines in real-time which airspace restrictions are

As of July 23, 2019, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) expanded the Low Altitude Authorization and Capability (LAANC) system to include recreational operators. LAANC is a system built as a collaboration between the FAA and industry stakeholders to help expedite the time it takes to receive authorization to fly a drone under 400 feet in

United Parcel Service of America, Inc. (UPS) is seeking permission from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to operate a network of commercial drones for purposes of delivering packages all across the U.S. If UPS’ request for certification is granted by the FAA, UPS could be flying drones over people in populated areas, at night and

In Canada, the drone industry has nearly doubled in size every two years over the past decade. With that boom, Canadian regulators have been grappling with many of the same questions that the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has been struggling with as well — how do you safely incorporate drones into the airspace? To

Last week, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued Hensel Phelps Construction Co. a Part 107 unmanned aerial system (UAS or drone) waiver to operate a parachute-equipped drone over people. However, the FAA clarified that while it granted the wavier for the use it did not certify or approve the parachute or the parachute system itself.

U.S. Senators Edward J. Markey (D-MA) and John Thune (R-SD) called on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to publish a proposed rule for the remote identification of unmanned aerial systems (UAS or drones). The request was issued through a letter sent to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).

According to the Senators’ letter, remote identification

In the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) latest aerospace forecast, it noted the “phenomenal growth” of the small unmanned aerial system (UAS or drone) industry. The FAA reported that at the end of 2018 there were 277,000 UAS registered with the FAA. In the FAA’s 2017 report and predictions, that number was expected to be only