Flight shedding light on commercial drone use

The layers of uncertainty surrounding how government might oversee private use of drones for commercial purposes continue to be peeled away.

 

Last week, BP conducted what is at least the second commercial drone flight when the London-based oil company and drone manufacturer AeroVironment flew a Puma AE unmanned aircraft system near Alaska's remote Prudhoe Bay area to survey roads and pipelines in the country's largest oilfield.

 

The Federal Aviation Administration, which has jurisdiction over all manned and unmanned flight, has limited non-recreational drone use primarily to government, police, fire and public safety purposes as well as some academic research. FAA approved limited commercial flight in July 2013, when it OK'd use of the Puma AE and Insitu ScanEagle vehicles for surveying in the Arctic.

 

ConocoPhillips engaged in what is believed to be the first commercial drone flight on Sept. 12, 2013 when it flew a ScanEagle over the Chukchi Sea off the coast of Alaska for monitoring marine mammal life and Arctic ice sheets. A subsequent ConocoPhillips flight crashed into the ocean.

 

To date, the FAA does not require users to get approval to fly a craft for recreational purposes, but does impose some limitations that state the vehicle must remain in sight of the operator, be flown only during daylight hours, and be operated within the confines of Class G airspace and then only at an elevation of less than 400 feet and outside 5 miles from any airport or heliport. Whether restrictions for private and recreational users will change in the future is uncertain.

Unauthorized commercial flights have occurred on occasion in the filming of movies. Multiple operators representing the motion picture industry have sought exemptions for commercial flight from FAA regulations since early last year. The FAA still has not granted such an exemption.