FAA Deputy Administrator Michael Whitaker said that the regulation will be final by end of June, 2016 in the testimony before the US House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee, stuff.co.nz reports. Drone advocates expect unmanned aerial systems to transform a number of industries - from agriculture and energy production to real estate, news and entertainment, transportation and retailing.
At the congressional hearing, a senior Amazon.com executive told lawmakers that the ecommerce retailer would be ready to begin delivering packages to customers via drones as soon as federal rules allow. Amazon said its plans, which call for delivering packages to customers within 30 minutes, would require FAA rules to accommodate advanced drone technology envisioned by the companys Prime Air operations.
FAA regulations, proposed in February, 2015, are more restrictive - requiring drones to fly during daylight hours only and to remain within an operators visual line of sight. FAA officials are in discussions with industry stakeholders including Amazon and Google Inc about crafting final regulations that could accommodate more sophisticated drone systems capable of flying autonomously over longer distances.
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