Drones

Drones once again made headlines last week after several airline pilots flying around John F. Kennedy International Airport, one of the busiest airports in the world with more than 400,000 annual aircraft movements, spotted at least one drone flying around the airport property at altitudes as high as 3,000 feet, according to a statement from […]

Earlier this month, the FAA released a National Policy Compliance and Enforcement Bulletin containing language that takes a harsh stance against pilots who operate unmanned aircraft. As a result of this new policy, pilots who operate UAS against FAA regulations or model aircraft in a manner that endangers aircraft in the National Airspace System (NAS) […]

How did a highly advanced avionics system built for multimillion-dollar business jets wind up in the cockpit of a stock Beech Bonanza? Sorry, the Rockwell Collins Pro Line Fusion flight deck isn’t a new option coming soon from Beechcraft. Instead, the Bonanza featured in the video below is serving as a flying test bed for […]

After a continued battle between UAV operators and the FAA, the agency has reached a decision to allow for more extensive commercial use of drones for the purpose of film production. The agency said today it has granted regulatory exemptions to six video production companies, the first step in allowing the film and television industry […]

The FAA has issued an emergency Certificate of Authorization (COA) to the National Institute of Standards and Technology of Gaithersburg, Maryland, for the use of a drone to aid in the search for a 23-year-old woman who disappeared recently near Plano, Texas. The request to the FAA came from the Plano Police Department. The emergency […]

Several groups comprised of research universities, commercial drone operators and model aircraft hobbyists have filed federal lawsuits challenging the FAA over its rules relating to unmanned aerial vehicles. Three lawsuits filed on Friday ask the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to review the validity of a June directive issued by the […]

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 […]

The FAA is unlikely to meet its 2015 deadline for integrating UAVs into the National Airspace System as the agency grapples with a number of significant safety and certification issues, according to a report by the Department of Transportation’s Office of the Inspector General. The 33-page report notes that the FAA has yet to reach […]

French aerospace manufacturer Thales has come up with a proof-of-concept that takes multitasking to a whole new level. The experimental touchscreen control station would allow UAV pilots to operate multiple aircraft simultaneously. “The operator simply has to sit down and define what to track,” said Arnaud Galimberti, the project’s engineering manager. “Take-off, flight trajectory, tracking […]