Friday, September 26, 2014

Federal Aviation Administration Clears Six Film Companies to Use Drones • Decision Marks First Exemption of Their Kind From Ban on Commercial Drone Use

The Wall Street Journal
By Jack Nicas

Updated Sept. 25, 2014 7:23 p.m. ET


The Federal Aviation Administration authorized six filmmaking companies to use unmanned aircraft for their work, a milestone for commercial drones in the U.S. that also points up the complexity of the government's effort to regulate the emerging industry.

The FAA's decision, announced Thursday, marked the first exemptions of their kind from the agency's virtual ban on the commercial use of unmanned aircraft. Previously, the FAA had approved two commercial-drone operations; both were for Alaskan oil operations.

The FAA has said the exemptions are a safe, interim way to relieve pent-up demand while the government works out a comprehensive policy governing the industry.

The FAA and others have raised safety concerns as commercial-drone use has increased rapidly over the past couple years despite the agency's ban. Drones aren't expected to be in widespread use in the U.S. until the agency completes rules for them, which is expected in the next several years.

But in the meantime, according to the latest comments by regulators, the FAA intends to encourage, and expects to approve, many more such operating requests from companies in other fields.

Underlining the current regulatory jumble, some of the companies that received exemptions Thursday already had flown the aircraft as part of their work in the U.S., in violation of the ban, according to the companies or their websites. Many other companies use drones commercially—in real estate, agriculture and other businesses—according to drone makers and users.

The vehicles have been popular among producers of films and commercials, in part because they can fly in a sweet spot for filming that is too low for helicopters and too high for cranes, said Preston Ryon, co-owner of Snaproll Media LLC, one of the newly approved companies.

Mr. Ryon said his company starting using drones to film country-music videos in its hometown of Nashville, but halted those operations in the U.S. about a year ago in response to the FAA's ban. Snaproll has since turned down dozens of jobs, he said.

"We shot 'Fast & Furious 6' over in Moscow, and we've been up in Canada," said Mr. Ryon, a former corporate-jet pilot who founded Snaproll four years ago. "But quite honestly we're excited to be back in the U.S. and working."

He said the exemption process is an important step toward common-sense regulations. "The rules and regulations need to happen because it's kind of a free-for-all right now," he said.

The FAA has said new drone rules will take time because of the complex safety issues raised by thousands of new vehicles using the nation's airspace.

The agency has faced increasing pressure from the private sector and some lawmakers over its existing policy.

The FAA has required its approval for all nonrecreational drone flights, but the certification process is similar to that for manned aircraft, which many drone companies say is too time-consuming and expensive.

In May, the FAA said it would consider requests for exemptions, particularly for uses in controlled environments away from populated areas, such as in filmmaking, crop monitoring and power-plant inspections.

The FAA said it is evaluating requests from 48 companies, including Amazon.com Inc., which wants to test prototype delivery drones at its Seattle headquarters. The regulator had been expected to exempt seven film companies from its ban, but it asked one of them for more information.

Chris Dodd, chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America, told reporters Thursday that the FAA's exemptions mark "an important day for the [film] industry," adding that they help "create a climate where more production is done at home."

FAA chief Michael Huerta reiterated the need to balance public safety with industry demands to use unmanned aircraft. But he made clear that more exemptions are coming, saying the new approvals create a model for other industries. "We are open to receiving petitions from anyone," he said during a teleconference with reporters.

The FAA and the film companies agreed on a set of conditions that the agency said ensured that drone operations wouldn't compromise safety.

Those conditions include that the operators are certified private pilots of manned aircraft, that the drones are inspected before each flight, and that the pilots keep the vehicles within sight. They also restrict the companies' drone operations to daytime.

Tony Carmean, co-owner of San Diego-based Aerial MOB LLC, another of the exempted firms, said his company stopped using drones in the U.S. when it applied for the exemption in May. He applauded the FAA for incorporating input from companies, which suggested many of the restrictions that come with the exemptions.

"This whole exemption process has been about safety, safety, safety," he said. "We helped write these rules, and we're the experts in this technology."

The seventh company that had been expected to win an exemption was Flying-Cam Inc. Haik Gazarian, its director of operations, said Flying-Cam used drones to shoot movies in the U.S. from 1994 to 2011, when it halted operations in the country in response to the FAA policy. "We've had to downgrade and lay off people," he said. "We shoot a lot of films all around the globe to keep us surviving." In 2014, the company won an Academy Award for the development of its filmmaking drone.

Tom Hallman said his company, Pictorvision Inc., has yet to use drones in the U.S., sticking to its main business of shooting video from helicopters. That put the company "at a huge disadvantage," he said. "People were and are absolutely using these things" in the U.S.

The other companies that received the exemptions were Astraeus Aerial, HeliVideo Productions LLC and RC Pro Productions Consulting LLC.

—Andy Pasztor  contributed to this article.

- Source:   http://online.wsj.com

No comments:

Post a Comment