AABP EP Awards 728x90

FAA approves Amazon drone test flights

/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/BR_web_311x311.jpeg

Amazon.com Inc.’s  hopes of delivering shipments to customers via drones got a little more real Thursday as federal regulators granted the company approval to test its unmanned aircraft, Fortune reported.

 

The Federal Aviation Administration gave Amazon’s drones what’s called an experimental airworthiness certificate, which lets the company fly its aircraft for research, testing and crew training purposes.

 

Amazon must keep flights at 400 feet or below, only fly in daylight, and pilots must hold at least a private pilot’s certificate, among other FAA stipulations. The company also has to report a wealth of data about its drone flights to the agency every month.

 

However, the FAA is not yet allowing Amazon to conduct commercial drone flights.

 

In February, the FAA proposed new commercial drone rules that would make it significantly easier to legally operate a drone for money in the U.S., an activity that currently requires case-by-case approval from the agency. However,the plan would require drone pilots to fly their aircraft with “unaided vision” and avoid flying over people, rules that would seem to preclude Amazon’s drone delivery concept.

 

The FAA is expected to vote on those new rules later this year.