Drone laws relaxed for US national broadcaster

In Australia, the rules and regulations as they apply to drones are controlled by the regulatory body, Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA), and anyone flying drones commercially or just for fun should make themselves well aware of the guidelines that exist.

In the USA, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the responsible for setting the rules. And they’ve just recently issued a first-of-its-kind waiver to the national broadcaster, CNN, which allows them to fly a small unmanned aircraft system (UAS) over people and crowds. Drones do not have to be tethered, as previously required, and the maximum altitude has been increased to 150 feet above ground level, from 21 feet.

This waiver is a big deal, and represents a milestone for the industry. And given the ability of a drone, as opposed to a helicopter, to record footage above a crowd, other newsgathering agencies are sure to follow suit requesting they also be given the special waiver. It will certainly be interesting to see if CASA makes any such special allowances in Australia.

But CNN won’t be able to fly just any drones. Specifically, the waiver authorises them to operate the Snap UAS, a frangible, 621-gram aircraft with enclosed rotors that is made of deformable material, over people. “Vantage created the Snap for the purpose of safely capturing aerial video over people,” said Tobin Fisher, CEO of Vantage Robotics.

The waiver was not provided without a significant investment of time and included over two years of research and testing on the part of CNN and Vantage Robotics. “This waiver signifies a critical step forward not only for CNN's UAS operations, but also the commercial UAS industry at large,” said David Vigilante, SVP of Legal for CNN.

Whether other drone manufacturers now start to design their products specifically for media use, along similar specifications to Vantage Robotics’ Snap, is yet to be seen. But it could certainly open up a whole new market to them.