US, September 29, 2014: Anthony Foxx, U.S. Transportation Secretary has announced that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has extended regulatory exemptions to six aerial photo and video production companies to fly small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).
The six companies are Astraeus Aerial, Aerial MOB, LLC, HeliVideo Productions, LLC, Pictorvision Inc, RC Pro Productions Consulting, LLC dba Vortex Aerial, and Snaproll Media, LLC.
This marks the first step to permitting the film and television industry the use of UAS in the National Airspace System.
Under Section 333 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, the drones to be used in the proposed operations do not need an FAA-issued certificate of airworthiness basis findings they do not pose a threat to national airspace users or national security.
Secretary Foxx said, “This announcement is a significant milestone in broadening commercial UAS use while ensuring we maintain our world-class safety record in all forms of flight.”
He made the announcement on a conference call with FAA Administrator Michael Huerta and Chris Dodd, chairman and chief executive officer of the Motion Picture Association of America, Inc.
The Section 333 outlines the regulatory framework for safely integrating small UAS into routine the National Airspace System (NAS) operations.
Source: FAA
