The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has been busy even in the midst of the government shutdown. Last week, Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Elaine Chao unveiled a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS or drones) flights over people and at night.

For flights over people, the regulation breaks UAS into three categories:

Last week, a new audit report was released regarding the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) unmanned aircraft system (UAS or drone) waiver process. According to the audit, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has found room for improvement. In particular, the FAA’s timeliness in response to waiver requests could improve.

The audit was conducted between

Over 100 years ago manned aviation revolutionized transportation. However, it is less well-known that it also sparked a big change in property rights.

In the 1946 Supreme Court case, United States v. Causby, the court determined that although historically owning land was thought to convey a property right “to the periphery of the universe,”

On October 5, 2018, President Trump signed the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization Act which establishes new conditions for the recreational use of drones and immediately repealed the Special Rule for Model Aircraft. The FAA is currently evaluating the impact of this change and how the organization will implement these changes.

In addition to continuing

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced new partners in its Low Altitude and Notification Capability (LAANC) initiative. LAANC is the system created by the FAA and industry stakeholders that provides near real-time processing of airspace authorizations for unmanned aerial systems (UAS) operations under the FAA’s Part 107 regulations. Now, after a five-month onboarding process (which

State Farm has been granted a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) waiver to use drones, under the Small Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Rule (or Part 107), to assess damages in communities affected by Hurricane Florence. The Part 107 waiver allows both flights over people and flights beyond the drone operator’s visual line of sight. These provisions

Last week, on the two-year anniversary of the small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) rule (or Part 107), a report was released by the Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) stating that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has granted approximately 2,000 waivers since the inception of Part 107. Part 107 sets forth certain parameters and

As of last week, more than 100,000 Remote Pilot Certifications have been issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for individuals to fly commercial and recreational (those not qualifying as “model aircraft”) drones. This number of remote pilots is only after the final Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS) rule went into effect on August 29,

New model legislation introduced by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (Uniform Law Commission) seeks to give property owners the right to the airspace above their property from 200 feet and below. In 1946, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that the airspace belonged to the federal government; in 1962, a court decision

Last week, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced that it will require recertification for those who receive a Remote Pilot Airman Certificate under Part 107 small unmanned aircraft system (UAS or drone) regulations. The certification will only have a 24 month shelf life, and then the pilot needs to recertify their knowledge through additional testing.