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The FAA Gave the First Ever Go-Ahead For a Drone To Fly at an Airport (recode.net)

Posted by msmash on from the trying-to-work-out dept.

It's not legal to fly your drone anywhere near an airport -- at least not without a special waiver from the Federal Aviation Administration. From a report: For the first time under the FAA's commercial drone rules, the agency granted permission to operate a drone at an airport. Seven flights were conducted by Berkeley, Calif.-based 3D Robotics on Jan. 10 at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, the busiest airport in the world. Restrictions on flying drones near airports have to do with safety. Not only can drones collide with planes, but seeing one can also distract a pilot. The 3D Robotics drone was given permission to collect data on two four-story parking structures at the airport that a construction firm was hired to demolish.

44 comments

  1. What about daddy cool? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Daddy. Daddy cool.

  2. "At an airport" meaning Class B airspace. by ClayJar · · Score: 4, Informative

    The subheading in the linked article ("It's the first waiver granted for flight in Class B airspace since the FAA came up with commercial drone rules.") makes sense, but the summary, title, and article are a bit wonky.

    It's been perfectly legal for a certified commercial Remote Pilot to fly at an airport since Part 103 went into effect, but only in Class G airspace. Small airports with Class E Surface or Class D airspace would require a waiver, and waivers have been had for those for a while now. Larger airports with Class C airspace took longer before the FAA began processing (and approving) waivers, but there had not been any waivers of Class B airspace. This is the first.

    Of course, you can only get a waiver under Part 103, so if you're a hobby pilot, the five-mile rule is in effect. For Part 103 Remote Pilots, on the other hand, it's all about airspace. (Most of the FAA Knowledge Exam is airspace and weather.)

    1. Re:"At an airport" meaning Class B airspace. by E-Lad · · Score: 1

      Yeah, agree. The general public isn't going to grok airspace classification or the 3D aspects of them (surface to 10k?, 500' to 10k? what???) A lot of drone operators (and that means everyone with one) got a very abrupt introduction to nomenclature, rules, and concepts that we pilots are familiar with, and part of me wonders just how many shirk their need to learn these things because they just don't take them seriously.

    2. Re:"At an airport" meaning Class B airspace. by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 2

      . . . part of me wonders just how many shirk their need to learn these things because they just don't take them seriously.

      Isn't that the Über model? If you don't like the regulations, just ignore them.

      --
      Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
    3. Re:"At an airport" meaning Class B airspace. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      When I was in college, I got a B in airspace class too

    4. Re:"At an airport" meaning Class B airspace. by Kjella · · Score: 2

      Not exactly sure why this is news anyway... it's like "What can you do on a public street?" vs "What can you do on a public street if you're a major Hollywood production that has applied for all the right permits?" and the answer to the latter is pretty much everything. If you have a legitimate reason and you're willing to go through all the paperwork you're probably not the problem. Particularly not if you have professional stuntmen and a huge liability insurance, then you can probably get special permits for just about anything as long as the general public is at a safe distance.

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    5. Re:"At an airport" meaning Class B airspace. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Class B only requires constant radio with the tower, which only commercial pilots have. So it's a 1st, but really, more PR and FAA politics than tech/difficulty challenge. ADS-B would have made it much easier to clear too.

    6. Re:"At an airport" meaning Class B airspace. by networkBoy · · Score: 1

      Case in point:
      Ken Block's Gymkhana V in SF. (still my Fav).

      I sooooo wish I knew when they were filming there, I would have made the trip to go watch.

      --
      whois gawk date unzip strip find touch finger mount join nice man top fsck grep eject more yes exit umount sleep dump
    7. Re:"At an airport" meaning Class B airspace. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Do you mean Part 107? 103 is for ultralights.

    8. Re:"At an airport" meaning Class B airspace. by WarJolt · · Score: 1

      Yeah, it helps to be blindly ignorant of FAA regulations and spread misinformation. Like part 107 (not 103) allows drone use in class b,c and d airspace with ATC approval.

    9. Re:"At an airport" meaning Class B airspace. by E-Lad · · Score: 1

      Can you imagine the uproar if drones were required to equip a WAAS GPS and ADS-B Out?

      The problem we pilots have with the drone-flying public is that we have no confidence that the drone-flying public have much of a concept of airspace, how to navigate it, and do so safely. Thankfully, nothing bad has happened yet - just a few newsworthy reports of near-misses and at least 1 suspected (but not confirmed, the last I read) collision between a UAS and an aircraft. Sadly, it probably is just a matter of time where a UAS and plane collides, and the UAS pilot was completely oblivious to how to actually fly.

  3. Too much regulation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    For every new regulation, two must be eliminated. I propose we extend this same philosophy to laws as well.

    1. Re:Too much regulation by bobbied · · Score: 2

      Personally.... I think that most laws should require a re-authorization every few decades, with few possible exceptions. That way, when things like the "blue laws" go out of style/vogue they will eventually go away unless renewed.

      Same with HOA's but that's another issue...

      --
      "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
    2. Re: Too much regulation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I used to say every new set of government office holders should have vote on all previous laws before they make any new ones. Individually, not some bulk, one vote to pass them all thing. Would cut the overall number pretty quickly.

      Can't be implemented but was a interesting thought experiment.

    3. Re:Too much regulation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You think Hand-Off-Auto switch operator plackards should expire?

    4. Re:Too much regulation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't know about OP, but I certainly do.

      Not only that, but other warnings (such as stop signs), should automatically expire every 5 years unless a 2/3 majority national vote continues them. And I dont mean stop signs as a whole. There should be a national vote on every fucking sign.

      The ballot will probably read something like this:

      Wheretherehenceforth, shall the signage of stopping, further herein known as the "stop sign", located at a such place known as "SEC 21 T3N R4E COM W 1/4 COR, TH S89*28'13"E 2607.55 FT, TH N0*32"E 619.99 FT, TH N89*28'13"W 317 FT, TH N0*32"E 636.84 FT, TH S89*37'42"E 347 FT, TH S0*32"W 1257.59 FT, TH N89*28'13"W 30 FT ALG C/L BOWEN RD 5.50 AC M/L SPLIT 10/95 FROM 024", be continued and affirmed until such time as we have to do this shit again? Yea or Nay.

    5. Re:Too much regulation by chuckugly · · Score: 1

      I agree - anything worth having should be renewed after being reconsidered.

  4. we already do that by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    We fly them at Wings Over Houston at Ellington every year. Camera platforms, racing quads, etc, as part of the pre-show.

    1. Re:we already do that by bobbied · · Score: 1

      Is that in a class B airspace there at Wings Over Houston? Somehow I don't think an airshow *could* be held in a class B airspace w/o some serious disruption of airline transport services....

      This waver is just the first one issued for a Class B airspace.... Not the first time a drone has flown at an airport..

      --
      "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
    2. Re:we already do that by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My guess is that the airshow temporarily has their airspace re-classified for the duration.

  5. Not the Right Berkeley Story by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I was looking at /.'s frontpage to see if there was an article on the Berkeley riots over Milo Yiannopoulos' visit which ended with anti-Trump protestors beating his supporters and destroying a Starbucks, but apparently it's nowhere to be found.

    1. Re:Not the Right Berkeley Story by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Under the new management, they only post stories that fall into one of the following:

      - Elon Musk
      - Pro-socialism and entitlements
      - New product sales pitches

    2. Re:Not the Right Berkeley Story by number6x · · Score: 1

      I see it. Look here. Maybe because you are AC, or have your settings different?

  6. red of tooth and claw by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If you follow that simpleminded idea to it's logical conclusion, you end up with only one regulation.

    I propose it be "do what Anonymous Coward says".

  7. Fake News by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I fly my drone at airports all the time.

    1. Re: Fake News by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Might as well, as long as the airlines can't get their computers to work. (I don't know what their problem is, those computers were good enough when I was a kid.)

  8. This is insane FTA just hacked drones! by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 1

    This is literally insane, the FTA just did hacking tests on commercial drones (it's in a mil gov newsletter) and successfully hacked all of them.

    Not safe.

    Not wise.

    In sane.

    --
    -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
    1. Re:This is insane FTA just hacked drones! by ASDFnz · · Score: 1

      You are a wowser, believe it or not, drones will not be the end of the world and they don't present a significant risk to air traffic.

    2. Re:This is insane FTA just hacked drones! by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 0

      try paying attention to what is going on worldwide and current mil tactics sometimes.

      it's not all beer and sausages, snowflake.

      --
      -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
    3. Re:This is insane FTA just hacked drones! by ASDFnz · · Score: 1

      Yep you are a wowser.

      You just took a hyperbolic jump into military drones from a small drone looking at a parking lot. Don't you see that they are not even in the same class?

      Pull your head back into reality, come back to what we are talking about and lay off the stupid-hysterical-fearmonger pills 'snowflake'.

    4. Re:This is insane FTA just hacked drones! by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 0

      Look. The ones being used vs our forces are exactly the ones you're talking about, snowflake.

      Fracking civvies.

      --
      -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
    5. Re:This is insane FTA just hacked drones! by ASDFnz · · Score: 1

      Look. The ones being used vs our forces are exactly the ones you're talking about, snowflake.

      Only in your head.

      See it works like this, we are talking about a small drone taking photos of a parking lot, you go all wowser and start saying "its the end of the world", I call out your bull shit, so you come back and make out like they are flying a fucking military drone through said parking lot.

      I never mentioned military drones until you did your "I am a wackjob" leap, they are in YOUR HEAD to try to prove a retarded point, not mine (important difference, things in your imagination do not appear in everyone else).

    6. Re:This is insane FTA just hacked drones! by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 0

      Check my original post. And realize some of us worked on drones way before you ever had heard of them.

      Snowflake.

      --
      -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
    7. Re:This is insane FTA just hacked drones! by ASDFnz · · Score: 1

      cFTA just did hacking tests on commercial drones (it's in a mil gov newsletter)

      You mean this bit? Where you're talking about commercial drones?

      Seriously, if you are representative of military thinking we are in trouble. You have no concept of what is an appropriate response AND your attention span is so bad you can misquote what you yourself wrote. I will yell it for you;-

      WE ARE TALING ABOUT A SMALL COMMERCIAL DRONE FLYING IN A PARKING LOT.

  9. Distraction by The-Ixian · · Score: 1

    [...] but seeing one can also distract a pilot

    So can iPads apparently...

    --
    My eyes reflect the stars and a smile lights up my face.
  10. Re:Steve Bannon, Lunatic ( Score: +1, True ) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    cool story bro!

  11. At least Congress is *supposed* to make laws by raymorris · · Score: 1

    I can sure understand that sentiment.

    At least when Congress makes laws, they are doing their job, under their Constitutional authority. Most of the hundreds of thousands of pages of law in the Code of Federal Regulations are unconstitutional - elected Congress reps, who are accountable to the voters entry few years, are supposed to be making law, not unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats.

    We have ten times as much regulation today as we did fifty years ago or so. *Some* regulations need to be written by the executive agencies, but many we could well do without and many more are, put simply, laws - and therefore should be passed by Congress after appropriate debate and amendment.

  12. Calm down... by voss · · Score: 1

    How is a drone more distracting to pilots than any other small aircraft, helicopter or ultralight???

    1. Re:Calm down... by ASDFnz · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Or birds.

      These drone regulations are quite literally the return of the Luddites. They are far less dangerous than just about any other hazard to aerial navigation but I think the regulators just get a thrill out of regulations these days and if there is anything new they immediately start to think of ways to regulate it.

      The wowser attitude of the general public doesn't help, people seem to think that recreational/imaging drones kill people on a daily basis or something.

    2. Re:Calm down... by slimjim8094 · · Score: 1

      Any of those operating in class-B airspace are required to be in communication with and complying with ATC instructions. If I want to fly over Newark Airport, which I've done, I have to follow the rules - and they're quite precise. (They want you to fly directly over the runway numbers, since the only place at an airport where's no planes is directly above the runway.)

      You need explicit clearance to enter class-B airspace and usually a transponder code so they can track you specifically. If you deviate from their instructions you can expect FAA enforcement action.

      --
      I have developed a truly marvelous proof of this comment, which this signature is too narrow to contain.
  13. Inaccurate headline by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Here's an article from last year that talks about drones at an airport.

    http://www.syracuse.com/news/i...

  14. In other lands by Max_W · · Score: 1

    it seems to be easier. Here is a video Drone Flies into World's Largest Plane Antonov 225 Mriya https://youtu.be/A1ZMzsou-eQ?t...

  15. Baloney by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Radio control hobbyists have been having rc flying events at local airports for decades. There are videos all over youtube. This is BS.