New U.S. rules on drone operations are getting a general thumbs up from researchers who rely on the unmanned aircraft to collect data and make observations. That marks a shift from a few years ago, when worried researchers went to court to block Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) drone regulations that they argued were overly restrictive and would harm academic science.
The final FAA rule, released by the White House on Tuesday, seems to have alleviated many of those concerns. (You can read all 624 pages of the final rule here). The new regulations are “fantastic, just late,” says biogeographer Benjamin Heumann of Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant, who uses drones to map biodiversity and invasive species and had been critical of early versions. “It’s nice to have the FAA come forward with some new rules that kind of follow some common sense. … This is where we should have been 2 years ago.”
The new rules outline how people can legally operate what are officially known as small unmanned aircraft systems (sUASs), defined as drones that are fewer than 25 kilograms and operate at 160 kilometers per hour or less. In general, they forbid operators from flying the aircraft over people who are not participating in their operations, and above 122 meters in altitude. Flights must be conducted during the daytime and the aircraft has to remain within the pilot’s line of sight. And drone pilots must be at least 16 years old and take an online test to earn a government permit known as a remote pilot airman certificate. Students or research team members who don’t hold such a certificate can fly a drone if they are under the direct supervision of someone who holds a certificate.
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