Pigskin Delivery Drone At Michigan Grounded After FAA Rule
When does a drone get grounded? When it becomes a political football.
The University of Michigan Wolverines canceled plans to use an unmanned aircraft to deliver the game ball tomorrow before kickoff against the University of Utah at its Ann Arbor stadium after talking to U.S. aviation regulators.
The planned flight at the biggest college football stadium was news to the Federal Aviation Administration, which has only approved limited drone operations also known as unmanned aerial systems.
“The FAA promotes voluntary compliance by educating UAS operators about how they can operate safely under current regulations and laws,” the agency said today in an e-mailed statement.
After explaining its rules on drones -- and pointing out that the agency had also approved a temporary flight restriction over the stadium during the game -- the school backed down, FAA said in the statement.
Even as technology behemoths Amazon.com Inc. and Google Inc. develop drone delivery systems and thousands of people buy small, easy-to-fly unmanned copters, the FAA remains wary and hasn’t permitted commercial flights outside Alaska. Pilots flying drones solely for recreation may do so as long as they follow safety guidelines, which include staying away from crowds.
By Alan Levin, Sept. 19, 2014, Bloomberg.com
When does a drone get grounded? When it becomes a political football.
The University of Michigan Wolverines canceled plans to use an unmanned aircraft to deliver the game ball tomorrow before kickoff against the University of Utah at its Ann Arbor stadium after talking to U.S. aviation regulators.
The planned flight at the biggest college football stadium was news to the Federal Aviation Administration, which has only approved limited drone operations also known as unmanned aerial systems.
“The FAA promotes voluntary compliance by educating UAS operators about how they can operate safely under current regulations and laws,” the agency said today in an e-mailed statement.
After explaining its rules on drones -- and pointing out that the agency had also approved a temporary flight restriction over the stadium during the game -- the school backed down, FAA said in the statement.
Even as technology behemoths Amazon.com Inc. and Google Inc. develop drone delivery systems and thousands of people buy small, easy-to-fly unmanned copters, the FAA remains wary and hasn’t permitted commercial flights outside Alaska. Pilots flying drones solely for recreation may do so as long as they follow safety guidelines, which include staying away from crowds.
Read the full story: www.bloomberg.com
