WASHINGTON (AP) – Federal officials say they will allow operators to fly small drones over people at night, giving potential to commercial use of cars.
Most drones will need to be equipped so that they can be identified remotely by law enforcement.
The final rules announced Monday by the Federal Aviation Administration “bring us closer to the day when we will see more frequent drone operations, such as package delivery,” said FAA Administrator Stephen Dickson.
Drones are the fastest growing segment of all shipments, with more than 1.7 million registered, according to the Department of Transportation.
However, the widespread commercial use of cars has developed much more slowly than many lawyers expected. Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos once predicted that his company would use drones to deliver goods to customers’ doors within five years, but that prediction has already been off for two years..
There have been several tests and limited uses. United Parcel Service said last year that it had received approval to operate a national drone fleet and has already made hundreds of deliveries on a North Carolina hospital campus.
Also last year, Google’s sister company, Wing Aviation, obtained FAA approval for commercial drone flights in a corner of Virginia.
And last August, Amazon received similar FAA approval to deliver drone packages. The company is still testing the service and has not said when buyers will see the deliveries.
For fans of drones eager for the pace of adoption, regulatory hurdles are a major complaint. Currently, operators who want to fly a drone over people or at night need a waiver from the FAA.
The new rules will require drones used at night to include flashing lights that can be seen up to three miles away. Operators will need special training. Small drones flying over people cannot have rotating parts capable of cutting the skin.
The rules covering flights over people and at night will take effect in about two months. They finalize the proposed rules issued last year.
All drones required to be registered with the FAA will be required to have equipment that transmits identification, location and control station or are operated in FAA-recognized areas. The so-called remote identification was a requirement imposed by Congress at the urging of national security and law enforcement agencies.
Drone manufacturers will have 18 months to start manufacturing remote ID drones, and operators will have one year after that to start using remote ID drones.