Search Results for: drones

Until the FAA has finalized its integration of UAVs into the national airspace system, an order that was mandated to be complete by 2015 but is likely to be delayed, the controversy over the use of drones continues. In the most recent debacle, a U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has […]

Two men have been arrested in New York after one of the drones they were flying allegedly came within 800 feet of a New York Police Department helicopter early Tuesday morning. The helicopter was flying at 2,000 feet near the George Washington Bridge at approximately 12:15 a.m. when one of the two drones piloted by […]

A close friend, pilot and former aircraft owner is fond of reminding me that general aviation “as we know it” is going away. He laments losing the GA industry as it existed in the last 20 or so years of the previous century, mainly because fewer pilots today use their airplanes for personal transportation. (Business use of GA continues, of course, with its fortunes tightly tied to the overall economy, which is another topic.)

“Cessna 48X, traffic 12 o’clock, 2 miles, 6,500, UAV maneuvering.” The ATC call was both surprising and ironic, since I was on my way from Los Angeles to Arizona to research an article about drones. I never saw the UAV, and the sound of the drone pilot’s response was not audible because communications from UAVs […]

The FAA says it is considering granting an exemption to the film and television industry that would allow commercial UAV operations with the government’s blessing after the Motion Picture Association of America helped a group of its members file a government petition. Seven aerial and video production companies are asking for regulatory exemptions that would […]

Several media companies including The New York Times, The Washington Post and the Associated Press have challenged the FAA’s authority to prohibit the press from flying drones in search of a story. In a briefing filed this week with the National Transportation Safety Board, a group of 16 media outlets argued that current FAA regulations […]

The FAA’s draconian blanket ban on “commercial” UAV flying is a joke. An NTSB judge said as much in March by **tossing out a $10,000 FAA fine **against a videographer who made a promotional film for the University of Virginia using a small quadracopter. Others regularly fly similar remote-controlled craft to shoot videos or take […]

The details of what really happened are still murky, but what we do know is the owner of a video-camera-equipped Hexacopter flying near the scene of a car accident in Springfield, Ohio, earlier this week was charged with felony obstruction after police said he refused to land his UAV even as a medevac helicopter prepared […]

After the recent news about Facebook potentially acquiring Titan Aerospace, Google has snatched up the New Mexico-based company instead. While Google did not disclose the financial details of the deal, it is likely to be a rather hefty price tag considering Facebook ended up buying a similar solar-powered drone startup called Ascenta from the United […]

You may already feel like big brother is watching you after you put a little bit more information on Facebook than perhaps you should have. And, if a report from TechCrunch is true, Facebook may soon be watching you from above. The report claims that the social network giant plans to purchase Titan Aerospace, now […]