FAA permits first commercial drones over land

Last week the FAA has announced the first commercial drones permit over land. This commercial drones permit has been issued to BP to conduct pipeline survey in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. Until now the FAA has deemed all commercial drones to be illegal, although, their claim of legality has been challenged in court. This is good news for the industry as a whole, however, there doesn’t seem to be much information on the process by which they’ve issued and approved such a permit. All in all, it’s a step in the right direction for those hoping to use this technology as their business but the transparency by the government is still lacking. BP is currently using one of two FAA approved UAVs, AeroVironments Puma, to conduct their pipeline inspections. We are very much looking forward to seeing some of the other long range UAVs getting FAA certification in the very near future. Until then, we are pleased with this step and look forward to more transparency into the process of application and approval. For more information on this permit check out the FAA’s website