New FAA Ruling to Revolutionize Urban Airspace

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New US security rules allow commercial drones for deliveries and services to fly over populated areas for the first time in the US. All but the smallest drones will have to broadcast a radio signal with a digital license plate and a flight location under new Federal Aviation Administration regulations. 

A separate new regulation creates a blueprint for protecting people and moving motor vehicles on the ground from errant drones and allows routine flights at night, the FAA said.

“The new rules make way for the further integration of drones into our airspace by addressing safety and security concerns,” according to the release. “They get us closer to the day when we will more routinely see drone operations such as the delivery of packages.”

The rules will be “an essential building block toward safely allowing more complex” drone operations, the agency said in a document summarizing the action.

The announcement breaks a regulatory roadblock that had held up growth in pilotless aircraft technology in the U.S. Requiring an ID broadcast addresses concerns from federal law enforcement and homeland security agencies that the drones would be used for crime and terrorism.

Bloomberg.com comments that the dual actions are the most significant regulatory expansion in drone capabilities since the devices first trickled into civilian markets starting about a decade ago.

Several years ago the FAA had been set to expand drone flights over crowds, but the other agencies wouldn’t permit it to move ahead until it addressed growing concerns about misuse of the devices.

The FAA is establishing four tiers of drones capable of flying over people. They range from light-weight devices with no exposed propellers that won’t harm people to sophisticated craft that obtain the same FAA approvals for reliability as traditional aircraft.

Even small drones exempt from broadcasting their identity will have to do so if they operate over crowds, the agency said. The FAA will also require licensed drone pilots to pass a knowledge test on flying after dark.

Drones weighing more than 0.55 pounds (0.25 kilograms) must broadcast their identity on a low-power radio frequency such as WI-Fi or Bluetooth within 30 months of the rule’s finalization. In that way, police or other authorities can monitor nearby drones.

Civilian drones offered for sale in the U.S. must be equipped with such technology within 18 months, according to the summary. Operators aren’t permitted to take off without a working ID beacon.

It will still be years before swarms of drones operated by commercial companies buzz over neighborhoods dropping off packages. But the new rules provide an important platform for the industry to move toward those goals.