FAA Bans Use of Drones to Deliver Packages
June 24th, 2014Via: Ars Technica:
The Federal Aviation Administration has said that online shopping powerhouse Amazon may not employ drones to deliver packages, at least not anytime soon.
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In Monday’s announcement, published in the Federal Register, the FAA named Amazon’s December proposal as an example of what is barred under regulations that allow the use of drones for hobby and recreational purposes. The agency did not mention Amazon Prime Air by name, but it didn’t have to.
Under a graphic that says what is barred, the FAA mentioned the “Delivering of packages to people for a fee.” A footnote added, “If an individual offers free shipping in association with a purchase or other offer, FAA would construe the shipping to be in furtherance of a business purpose, and thus, the operation would not fall within the statutory requirement of recreation or hobby purpose.”
