New York is a beautiful, lively city full of photographic opportunities. However, it can be a nightmare for drone pilots. In this video, documentary filmmaker Griffin Hammond explains why it’s nearly impossible and mostly illegal to fly a drone in New York City.
Proposed rule changes could make it easier to fly a drone at night and above crowds
If you’re a drone pilot, you know that FAA doesn’t allow flying drones above crowds or at night, unless you have a special waiver. But a new proposed could make it possible to fly drones at night and over crowds in the USA without the need for the waiver.
U.S authorities will soon be legally allowed to shoot down your private drones
Shooting down drones in the USA has been a thing for a while. Or at least, attempting to. And while there may be circumstances under which civilians are allowed to shoot down privacy-invading drones, the US government wants their chance, too.
Congress has now passed the FAA Reauthorization Act, which will allow them to “disrupt”, “exercise control”, or “seize or otherwise confiscate” drones that they perceive to be a “credible threat”. But it is not without objection.
DJI can now approve flights in no-fly-zones at their discretion
DJI has just announced that they have been approved to offer Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC) services for professional drone pilots. The FAA set up LAANC this year to help professional drone pilots operate within controlled airspace.
The FAA has been putting DJI through a “rigorous test and validation of DJI’s technology capabilities”, resulting in their seal of approval as a UAS Service Supplier. This allows DJI to offer their customers near-real-time authorisation to fly in controlled airspace near airports.
Your drone will soon need to have a visible license plate
Drone registration rules will change according to a recently proposed rule. No, it won’t be deemed unconstitutional again. As a matter of fact, soon it will not be enough to just put the drone’s ID number inside the aircraft. Instead, it will need to have a visible “license plate” on the outside.
Homeland Security wants to track and destroy drones that they think threaten the public
Drones have been a gamechanger in the world of photography. With these flying cameras, now everyone can create pro-level footage and video. Unfortunately, there are also a few bad apples who like to use them for shady purposes. Now Department of Homeland Security wants to impose even stricter regulations on drones. So how exactly will this affect law-abiding drone enthusiasts and professionals?
Flying a drone above the new apple headquarters will most likely be its last flight
There are some things which you think would be obvious. Like walking out into a busy road full of cars, putting your hand in an alligator’s open mouth, or flying your brand new drone over Apple’s shiny new campus – officially dubbed “Apple Park”. But for some people, apparently, it’s not so obvious. When Assaf Kaufman bought his son a new drone for his bar-mitzvah, they decided to take it out for a spot of flying. So, why not take it for a spin in Apple’s direction? What could go wrong?
Drone pilot flies directly above a passenger plane, could face $250,000 fine and jail
Drones can cause quite a mess when flying near airports, and there’s even a visualization demonstrating just how chaotic it gets up in the sky. Still, some drone pilots don’t give up on performing stunts dangerously close to airplanes and airports. Just recently, a drone operator “dive-bombed” a passenger airplane and flew directly in its path. The video was posted privately to a Facebook group, but it soon reached FAA and they’re currently investigating the incident.
FAA restricts drone operations over seven nuclear facilities
Dear America, you do have to register drones with the FAA after all
Yes, that’s right, the drone registry introduced in 2015, and deemed unconstitutional back in May of this year is now back. When the drone registration system was first introduced it was met with mixed response. On the one hand, there’s those worried about privacy, and on the other the “Well, if you’re not doing anything illegal, what do you have to worry about?”
Now, it seems privacy be damned, thanks to a bill signed into law yesterday by President Trump. The reinstated registration rules are a small part of a much larger $700bn National Defense Authorization Act. TechCrunch suggests that this was such a small part of the bill it likely slipped through unnoticed.
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