Thursday, March 19, 2015

Amazon Gets Nod From FAA On Drone Delivery Experiments

Good news for fans of the drone delivery plans of Amazon.com: the Federal Aviation Administration said Thursday afternoon that it has granted an "experimental airworthiness certificate" to Amazon Logistics, to specifically conduct research and development and crew training for Amazon's planned drone delivery service. The FAA said the certificate limits Amazon's flight operations to 400 feet or below, during daylight hours, in visual meteorological conditions -- and also limits the unmanned aircraft to visual, line of sight of the pilot. Amazon also is limited to running those drones with an actual pilot, with a private pilot's certificate and medical certification, and the FAA said that Amazon will have to provide monthly data to the FAA on its testing and any issue encountered. Despite the limitations, the certificate is a welcome change from Amazon's prior position, where it was unable to fly any drones, even for research and development purposes.