The FAA announced an “interim policy” yesterday to expedite the flight authorizations it grants to operators of small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) who have already obtained exemptions from the agency to use their machines. It will now grant those operators a certificate of authorization (COA) for flights at or below 200 feet anywhere in the country except in restricted airspace or in major cities, so long as they fly their drones during daytime VFR conditions, within visual line of sight of the pilot and at specified distances from airports or heliports. The “blanket” 200-foot COA replaces the agency’s past process of evaluating every UAS operation individually.
The interim policy stands until the agency completes its small UAS rulemaking process and applies to operators who have obtained an exemption for their machines through a provision of the 2012 FAA reauthorization act known as Section 333. The agency unveiled the interim step on the same day the Senate Commerce Committee's subcommittee on aviation operations held a broad-based hearing on drones and the issues they raise. At the hearing, Paul Misener, Amazon vice president for global public policy, said a UAS for which the online retailer recently obtained an FAA experimental certificate became obsolete while it awaited approval. Amazon is also seeking to fly drones through the Section 333 process.