Before the release of the FAA’s Part 107 regulation for small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS), the commercial drone industry in the U.S. emerged through exemptions to existing aviation rules. Analyzing the types of operation allowed by those exemptions, which in late May numbered several thousand, offers insight into where the growth may be.
In the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, Congress inserted a number of provisions designed to speed the introduction of unmanned aircraft into the National Airspace System. Section 333 of the act, titled “Special Rules for Certain Unmanned Aircraft Systems,” became the predominant route that aspiring commercial drone operators followed to gain entry. It gave the secretary of transportation authority to determine “if certain unmanned aircraft systems may operate safely” in the airspace before the FAA promulgated standards for certifying and operating drones weighing less than 55 pounds through the long-awaited sUAS regulation.