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

Posted by msmash on Thursday February 2, 2017 @05:20AM 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.

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Re:Calm down... by ASDFnz · 2017-02-02 09:58 · 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.