FAA APPROVES COMMERCIAL USE OF UAS IN HOLLYWOOD
October 2, 2014
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on September 25, 2014 granted a “Part 333” regulatory exemption to Astraeus Aerial that permits the company to operate quadcopters in commercial service in connection with movie and TV production. This is one of six exemption requests facilitated by the Motion Picture Association of America. The other five requests, which remain outstanding, were filed on behalf of Aerial MOB, LLC, HeliVideo Productions, LLC, Pictorvision Inc., RC Pro Productions Consulting, LLC dba Vortex Aerial, and Snaproll Media, LLC.
Below is an in-depth summary of the Order. Because it is unusually detailed it will likely serve as a roadmap for other companies seeking to operate similar aircraft for commercial purposes. Here are some key takeaways:
- FAA agreed that the UAS could be piloted by a private pilot and rejected ALPA’s argument that only commercial pilots should be permitted to operate UAS in a commercial setting. “The FAA considers the overriding safety factor for the limited operations proposed by the petitioner to be the airmanship skills acquired through UAS-specific flight cycles, flight time, and specific make and model experience, culminating in verification through testing.”
- FAA agreed that UAS posed significantly less of a threat than the helicopters and fixed wing aircraft now being employed to film movies because they are a fraction of the size, carry no flammable fuel, and do not carry crew or passengers.
- All flights will be operated within visual line of sight (VLOS) of a pilot and/or observer, and the UA flights will be limited to a maximum altitude of 400 feet above ground level.
- This exemption does not require an electronic means to monitor and communicate with other aircraft, such as transponders or sense and avoid technology. Rather the FAA is mitigating the risk of these operations by placing limits on altitude, requiring stand-off distance from clouds, and permitting daytime operations only.
The one unique factor that could allow FAA to distinguish the Astraeus proposal from future applications is that the aircraft will be operated on a closed set. Nevertheless, this is an enormous liberalization of FAA’s prior position on commercial UAS ops and should be the first of many exemptions granted. As of today, the agency is considering 40 requests for exemptions from other commercial entities.
If you have any questions, please contact Evelyn Sahr (esahr@eckertseamans.com, 202-659-6622) or Drew Derco (dderco@eckertseamans.com, 202-659-6665).