Some US firms excluded from new drone regulations

North Carolina-based drone firm, PrecisionHawk has become the first company to gain exemption from the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) line of sight rule. Previously, drones had to operate within one nautical mile (1.15 miles) of operators, severely limiting their application. PrecisionHawk's tests have convinced the FAA that the restriction should be expanded to three nautical miles (almost 3.5 miles), beyond the line of sight. The move has been welcomed by drone industry insiders, who say it will allow the sector to "move forward." More testing will be done to ensure what obstacle avoidance systems drones will require in future.

PrecisionHawk, a drone company based in Raleigh, North Carolina, recently completed the first phase of a Federal Aviation Administration project investigating how that rule might be loosened. Other companies have tested longer flights at FAA test sites. And this week PrecisionHawk was granted the first exemption from the line of sight rule allowing commercial operations on a longer leash.

Other companies can apply for similar waivers. The FAA plans to watch how they fare with a view to amending its rules to permit longer drone flights by any company.

PrecisionHawk started staging test scenarios in which a pilot flew a drone out of view under an FAA program called Pathfinder last year. They challenged pilots to keep their drone safely away from crewed aircraft, such as single-propeller planes, microlights, and paragliders also flying in the area. The tests were repeated around the country in varying weather conditions.

PrecisionHawk reported to the FAA earlier this month that its results showed that pilots could keep their drones safe as much as three nautical miles (almost 3.5 miles) away just by looking out for other aircraft. That led to the FAA on Monday granting the company a waiver from the rule limiting flights to line of sight.

That sees the agency repeat a tactic used before the new rules permitting commercial flights took force Monday. It granted thousands of waivers from the ban on flights as a way to let companies and regulators learn about drone use. The FAA has said PrecisionHawk can now train other companies to secure the new kind of waiver allowing flights beyond line of sight.

Thomas Haun, an executive vice president at the company, says even being able to operate up to just three miles away significantly increases how useful and cost-effective drones can be. “This allows for a much larger area of operations and gives the ability to perform missions that previously you could not perform at all,” he says. “It will help the commercial drone industry move forward.”

Haun says that making it possible to fly over larger areas would be particularly valuable in agriculture, which his company and others say is a leading market for the use of drones (see “10 Breakthrough Technologies 2014: Agricultural Drones”). Mining operations and industrial facilities should also benefit, he says.