Almost a year ago now William H Meredith noticed a drone flying above his property, so with his shotgun, he removed it from the sky. This raised an interesting legal debate, given the drone was above his property at the time it was shot down, was it wrong of him to shoot it down or was the drone user invading his privacy? The FAA have now revealed the answer, saying it is a federal crime to shoot down a drone.
Due to the FAA’s latest drone registry scheme, drones are deemed as aircraft, the same as any manned aircraft in the air. As a result, the FAA responded to a question confirming that shooting down a drone is a federal crime, citing 18 U.S.C. 32 titled Aircraft Sabotage. This escalates to the point where if you are deemed to be interfering with someone who is “engaged in the authorised operation of such aircraft” you could find yourself facing anywhere between five and twenty years in prison.
While no one has yet to be charged for this act, many drones have been shut down and people are now wondering where can you draw the line? Given that specialist task forces are being formed to deal with the threat of drones, both on people and on manned aircraft, is it ever justified to defend yourself from the threat of a drone?
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) received a lot of hassle when it made its announcement last year when it announced plans to require drone owners to register their craft, both those purchased previously and those which they purchase in future. Even with all this hassle though they’ve seen quite a few drone owners register in the first month.
In a statement, over the first 30 days since the online registration system went online they’ve had nearly 300,000 people register their “small unmanned aircrafts”. If you own a craft between 0.55lbs and 500lbs you are required to register it, with registration required before you are allowed to fly the craft outside.
During the first 30 days, it was free to register, however, there is now a $5 cost for registration. If you purchased your drone before December 21st, 2015, you are required to have registered your drone by the 19th February, with all registrations lasting three years.
Despite the rise of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), from hobbyist to commercial and military, in the US, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has so far failed to properly regulate the use of drones, famously culminating in a small UAV crashing on the White House lawn. In the absence of proper legislation, an Italian firm has developed a counter-drone system. Selex has built Falcon Shield, which combines radar, cameras, and microphones to detect, track, and even attack drones that attempt to infiltrate the system’s airspace.
“Falcon Shield makes use of Selex ES’s high-performance, passive electro-optical and electronic surveillance sensors, combined with scenario specific radar,” according to the company website. “These provide a fully integrated threat detection, identification and tracking capability which enables Falcon Shield to operate in environments that range from wide area through to high-clutter, ‘urban canyons.'”
The system even includes a remote override option, which allows the system to take over control of an errant UAV. “Incorporated within the Falcon Shield system is Selex ES’s unique electronic attack capability that provides users with the ability to disrupt or take control of the threat,” the company claims.
Falcon Shield is intended for use in private areas, such as football stadia, military bases, campuses, or private estates.
Selex plans to demonstrate its anti-drone shield, and other products, at a joint US-UK exercise due to take place in the UK in April.
Amazon has been developing its drone delivery service, Amazon Prime Air, for nearly three years. While the process has been slow, and had many hurdles to tackle, the company remains confident that Prime Air will launch soon, but it will not necessarily make its debut in the US.
In an exclusive interview with Yahoo, Amazon’s Vice President for Global Public Policy Paul Misener, revealed that the logistics of Prime Air, which will use custom drones to make deliveries more than 10 miles from an Amazon depot, have been established, with the only sticking point, in the US at least, being with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
“The goals we’ve set for ourselves are: The range has to be over 10 miles. These things will weigh about 55 pounds each, but they’ll be able to deliver parcels that weigh up to five pounds,” Misener told Yahoo’s David Pogue. “It turns out that the vast majority of the things we sell at Amazon weigh less than five pounds.”
Regarding dealing with climate, weather conditions, and urban terrain, Misener said, “our customers live in a wide variety of buildings. Some live in rural farmhouses, some live in high-rise city skyscrapers, and then everything in between, in suburban and exurban environments. We want to be able to serve all of those customers. And it may take a different kind of a drone to best work in each one.”
Amazon is still in negotiations with the FAA, and various other international airspace regulators, to make Prime Air viable without impacting existing air traffic.
“[W]e’ve proposed to regulators around the world, including the FAA, a certain kind of an airspace design that would keep the drones separated from the aircraft,” Misener explained. “We were thinking: Manned aircraft above 500 feet. Between 400 and 500 feet there’d be a no-fly zone — a safety buffer. Between 200 and 400 feet would be a transit zone, where drones could fly fairly quickly, horizontally. And then below 200 feet, that would be limited to certain operations. For us, it would be takeoff and landing. For others, it might be aerial photography. The realtors, for example, wouldn’t need to fly above 200 feet to get a great shot of a house.”
However, if the FAA refuses to allow Amazon’s drone deliveries, the company will continue to pursue the strategy in other countries. “There’s no reason why the United States must be first,” Misener added. “We hope it is.”
Amazon released a new video last month showcasing Prime Air, inexplicably starring Jeremy Clarkson (well, he is under contract now):
After the recent surge of drones, governments are playing catch up to both companies, such as Amazon who are looking at drones for delivering your orders, and those who would use them recreationally. Sadly though when people are given new technology, it doesn’t mean that people won’t get hurt or cause trouble. The Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) has started to combat this by announcing a law that comes into effect this year requiring users to register their drones, but one lawyer is suing the FAA with the hopes that this could annul their registration law.
Under the petition for review, John Taylor asks that the new registration system is cancelled. The new system would see drone users forced to register online, mark their drones with unique ID numbers and possibly face fines if they are not registered by the time of their first flight. The petition was filed on the 24th of December 2015, only four days after the registration system went live. Taylor argues that this new system actually breaches part of the FAA’s own rules, citing section 336 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012. This section states that the agency may not create new rules or regulations for model aircraft if “the aircraft is flown strictly for hobby or recreational use”.
With some details from the registration set to become publically available, the court could soon face a difficult choice as defining what is recreational use could see some previous issues resurface, these include when drones are used at sporting or public events.
For a while now the hot topic for technology being used by the public has been drones. Small devices capable of flight with everything from a camera to a gun attached to them. Recently a drone crashed into a power line in Hollywood, the end result being a power outage for several hours with no way to track the responsible party to a toddler losing an eye to a crashed drone, the concept of controlling this area of technology has been discussed by the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) for a while. The FAA has now clarified what the registration will entail and revealed details about the penalties for flying without a permit.
“The Qube is flown in a demonstration (pictured above) in Simi Valley, California, October 19, 2011. The tiny drone with four whirling rotors swoops back and forth about 200 feet above the ground scouring the landscape and capturing crystal-clear video of what lies below. (Gary Friedman/Los Angeles Times/MCT)”
In order to register you will be required to pay a $5 fee, a fee that is being waived if you register in the first 30 days. You must register any drone that weighs between 0.55 and 50 pounds, by the deadline of February 19th, 2016.
The penalty for flying a drone without a license? Civil penalties could be a fine up to $27,500 while criminal penalties could include fees of up to $250,000 and up to three years in jail!
You can start the process now, but you won’t be able to fully register until December 21st. In order to register you must be 13 years old and upon completion will be issued a certificate that will include a unique ID that you must put on your drone.
Drones are advancing at a rapid rate, with companies and the public alike looking to use them for a variety of reasons. Sadly with all new technologies coming into the public domain, there are a few issues. Most recently there was an incident when a drone crashed into a power line in Hollywood, cutting off power to almost 700 people. This has only added more fuel to the fire for people who want to get all drones registered, an idea which was received with skepticism and dread. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has now started to clarify some details regarding their plans.
Companies have already popped up stating that they would help users register their drones with the FAA, making that one less task to worry about when you purchase your new piece of tech. The FAA has responded by announcing that users won’t need to work with a company to register as the task will be simple. They state in the post that users should wait till later in the month when more details will be announced before they part with even more of their hard-earned money.
With drones being augmented and adjusted by the general public, do you think it’s a good idea to register the devices? If so, how easy would you want it to be before it becomes unnecessary work?
An 18-year-old engineering student who modified a quadcopter to carry a four-shot handgun is being investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Austin Haughwout posted a video of his “Flying Gun” to YouTube, a 14-second clip that has been watched close to two million times, and its popularity has brought it to the attention of the US federal government.
“The FAA will investigate the operation of an unmanned aircraft system in a Connecticut park to determine if any Federal Aviation Regulations were violated,” a statement reads. “The FAA will also work with its law enforcement partners to determine if there were any violations of criminal statutes.”
Though the FAA has refused to comment further on the matter for the time being, the teen’s father, Bret Haughwout has been very vocal regarding the backlash to his son’s creation.
“It’s pretty simple. You’ve got a mechanical engineering student that builds different things, and this is just the last thing that he built. That’s all there is to it,” Haughwout said of his son, a student at Central Connecticut State University.
On the media coverage of the “Flying Gun”, Haughwout adds, “I’d say it’s the liberal mindset. Liberals just want to regulate away everything that people do. Anytime someone goes to do something, they want to put restrictions on it,” misunderstanding the term ‘liberal’ in a way that only an American gun-nut can.
While he’s raving, Haughwout then attacks the semantics of the coverage, growling, “You know what? Stop using the wrong word. It’s not a drone. It’s a quadcopter, just like an RC boat, or an RC car, or an RC airplane, or an RC helicopter.” As long as this weaponised quadcopter is being controlled by a teenager, that makes it much safer.
“There’s a machine gun attached to it […] So what’s the big deal here?” he asks. What’s the big deal, indeed.
Federal Aviation Administration has authorized Illinois State Police to fly unmanned aircraft that would comply with federal standards for a two-year term. The police department is intentionally using the word “unmanned aircraft” instead of “drone” because “it carries the perception of pre-programmed or automatic flight patterns and random, indiscriminate collection of images and information.”. They are planning to be using it to speed up and enhance assessment of traffic crashes and crime scenes.
The ability to obtain accurate measurements and clear images from aerial photographs will significantly reduce the amount of time highways are closed during the initial investigation of major traffic crashes,” ISP said.
The Illinois General Assembly passed the “Freedom from Drone Surveillance Act,” which prohibits the use of drones in the state with a number of exceptions. Allowed conditions were limited to investigate crime scenes and traffic crashes in public areas and more.
“One of the concerns was always that a drone is an incredibly powerful tool to see into areas that police couldn’t otherwise see in,” “It’s used to follow someone at a relatively low-cost and extended period of time. And that’s exactly why the legislature passed it and the governor signed the bill. I think this shows the wisdom of that decision,” Spokesman of American Civil Liberties Union, Ed Yohnka said.
Thank you MyFoxChicago for providing us with this information.
A court has overturned a lawsuit challenging the Federal Aviation Administration’s decision to loosen restrictions on the use of personal electronics in-flight. A Washington, DC court said Friday that the FAA had the authority to allow the use of gadgets at various stages during a flight, Ars Technica reports.
The lawsuit argued that the use of personal electronics during flights could pose a danger by distracting passengers from the various safety announcements before take-off or becoming projectiles during turbulence or other issues. Due to differences in aircraft the rule was not always applicable but in all modern aircraft there is little to no risk from having a personal device.
In 2013, the FAA made the official decision to allow the use of electronic devices during most phases of a flight. By 2014, around 96 percent of US commercial plane passengers were allowed to use small electronics during takeoff and landing, the AP reports.
The FAA stated in 2013:
Passengers will eventually be able to read e-books, play games, and watch videos on their devices during all phases of flight, with very limited exceptions. Electronic items, books and magazines, must be held or put in the seat back pocket during the actual takeoff and landing roll. Cell phones should be in airplane mode or with cellular service disabled – i.e., no signal bars displayed—and cannot be used for voice communications based on FCC regulations that prohibit any airborne calls using cell phones. If your air carrier provides Wi-Fi service during flight, you may use those services. You can also continue to use short-range Bluetooth accessories, like wireless keyboards.
1. Make safety your first priority.
2. Changes to PED policies will not happen immediately and will vary by airline. Check with your airline to see if and when you can use your PED.
3. Current PED policies remain in effect until an airline completes a safety assessment, gets FAA approval, and changes its PED policy.
4. Cell phones may not be used for voice communications.
5. Devices must be used in airplane mode or with the cellular connection disabled. You may use the WiFi connection on your device if the plane has an installed WiFi system and the airline allows its use. You can also continue to use short-range Bluetooth accessories, like wireless keyboards.
6. Properly stow heavier devices under seats or in the overhead bins during takeoff and landing. These items could impede evacuation of an aircraft or may injure you or someone else in the event of turbulence or an accident.
7. During the safety briefing, put down electronic devices, books and newspapers and listen to the crewmember’s instructions.
8. It only takes a few minutes to secure items according to the crew’s instructions during takeoff and landing.
9. In some instances of low visibility – about one percent of flights – some landing systems may not be proved PED tolerant, so you may be asked to turn off your device.
10. Always follow crew instructions and immediately turn off your device if asked.
I’ve used my phone and laptop on a plane before and I’m still here!
Thanks to The FAA and The Verge for providing us with this information.
The Federal Aviation Administration gave the go ahead to AIG this week to use UAVs for tasks that may be too risky for people to actually do. The FAA also gave permission to State Farm and USAA insurance companies to use the UAVs as well.
The UAVs can help to quickly and efficiently do inspections of property that the company may be assessing, as well as after a disaster. The UAV could inspect a precarious roof much faster and safer than having someone climb up onto it to do the assessment. This move will almost certainly help the companies cut costs as well, which hopefully would mean less costs in premiums down the road.
Amazon has been given approval by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to conduct same-day drone deliveries in rural areas. The FAA has granted Amazon Prime Air an experimental airworthiness certificate to conduct drone tests over remote parts of Washington state.
The company must comply with strict regulations, restricting flights to no higher an altitude than 400ft (120m), “during daylight hours”, and only in “visual meteorological conditions” (i.e. no heavy snow or rain). The certificate only grants flight privileges to one approved model of drone; should Amazon modify its drone, or want to use a new model, the FAA would have to grant a new certificate before Amazon was allowed to fly it.
The news is especially positive for Amazon since, after the FAA issued proposed rules for US drone flights back in February, it seemed as though the dream of Prime Air had been killed off before it had even started.
Prime Air, Amazon’s ambitious 30-minute drone delivery service, may have been downed by the US Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) new regulation proposals before it even got off the ground. NBC News has reported that these new regulations are designed to control and restrict commercial drone flights:
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said that operators of commercial unmanned aircraft would need to see the drone with “unaided vision,” in draft rules published on Sunday. It also said that small drones must not fly over people – denting Amazon’s plans for its Prime Air drone delivery service.
The FAA was quick to stress that the regulations are still in the proposal stage and that they are still gathering input from all affected parties.
Despite this, Paul Misener, Vice President of Amazon, sounds hopeful that the company will still be able to fulfil its vision, saying, “The FAA needs to begin and expeditiously complete the formal process to address the needs of our business, and ultimately our customers. We are committed to realizing our vision for Prime Air and are prepared to deploy where we have the regulatory support we need.”
The first drone to be launched from the FAA’s test facility in Nevada crashed almost immediately. The facility is intended to test drones for their entry into commercial use.
The Magpie UAV did eventually get certification, but the first public demonstration flight of the aircraft crashed with all to see, including the Governor of Nevada himself.
The Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems has been set up to provide certification to commercial drone operators. It is currently illegal in the US to fly drones for commercial purposes, so this facility has been set up to ensure drone’s airworthiness before they go into service.
I’m pretty sure this demonstration made the facility seem worthwhile.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is proposing incredibly restrictve drone regulation.
The most frightening news for drone pilots, is the possibility of the FAA making it mandatory for operators to have hours of manned flight experience and a pilot license. They’re also reportedly proposing to limit drone flights to daylight hours.
The restrictions would mostly be aimed at commercial operators, causing major issues for companies like Amazon, who planned to introduce a drone delivery service called Prime Air.
It’s not clear how the restrictions would affect private pilots and hobbyists, but the news of such restrictive legislation will no doubt make amateur pilots fearful for their future.
SpaceX have just been given approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to build their massive 56.5 acre spaceport on the Gulf of Mexico, right on the Texas-Mexico border. Of course there is still a lot of work to be done, such as building the damn thing, but it’s a massive step towards making their spaceport a reality.
The FAA issued a Record of Decision, which means that the agency would be willing to grant launch licenses to the company, allowing them to operate out of the new site. The FAA says that it would be likely that any requests from SpaceX to launch as many as 10 of their Falcon 9 rockets and two Falcon Heavy rockets per year from the privately owned site. Meaning they could theoretically have a launch each month.
SpaceX still need approval from several other agencies, including the Texas Department of Transportation complete their site plan, as they’ll be wanting to build new roads, utility lines and more. Yet with the most important part, being allowed to launch rockets, their plans should be pretty easy from here on out.
SpaceX currently launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida and Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, but the new plan means they’ll be able to play around with their space toys on their own turf and timeline.
Thank you Motherboard for providing us with this information.
Honda successfully tested the company’s first business jet, flying near the Honda Aircraft headquarters located in Greensboro, North Carolina.
The aircraft flew for 84 minutes after taking off from Piedmont Triad International Airport – and has the ability to fly at speeds up to 483 mph (773 km/h), with a maximum range of 1,357 miles (2,183km) and maximum altitude of 43,000 feet.
The jet has a number of custom features, such as over-wing engine mounting and a composite fuselage, with the company hoping to shake up the current small business jet market.
Here is what Michimasa Fujino, Honda Aircraft CEO, said in a statement:
“With this first flight, the HondaJet program has entered the next exciting phase as we prepare for delivery. This is an important achievement in bringing the world’s most advanced light jet to market.”
Initial research started in 1993, and the turbofan engine emerged in 1998, while the company wanted to enter commercial production in 2006. However, numerous research setbacks caused delays, but there is still ample opportunity for the company to create success.
Looking ahead, Honda wants to qualify for aircraft certification and begin entry-level service in 2015. The company is reportedly already in the final stage of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) testing right now.
Thank you to USA Today for providing us with this information
Only last month the FAA announced that they would be allowing the use of gadgets during flight take off and landing, now it looks like the same rules will be put in place for those flying in and out of Europe.
It is no secret that many of us cannot go five minutes without the need to use our smartphones, tablets, iPad, gaming devices and more. Sitting and waiting for a flight to take off or having to stare at the back of the seat in front of you for 30 minutes while the flight lands can be tedious, especially on long flights where you just want to unwind and read your Kindle. These new rules will allow you to enjoy your gadgets pretty much as they were intended, with only a few limits remaining in place.
Your phones and other similar devices will still have to stay in flight mode, so texting, calls and other transmitters will still have to be turned off, but listening to music, watching videos and gaming should be absolutely fine.
“This is a major step in the process of expanding the freedom to use personal electronic devices on-board aircraft without compromise in safety” said Patrick Ky, EASA Executive Director.
Are you looking forward to being able to keep yourself entertained during take off and landing?
Thank you Geeky Gadgets for providing us with this information.
New FAA guidelines mean that flyers won’t face such strict regulations for playing Angry Bird, or what ever it is they’re doing on their smart devices, during take-off and landing. Given that previously, flyers were instructed to turn off their devices it is well-known that most of us simple put them on silent or just in our pocket, defiant of the rules of the airline. At least now we can continue what we were doing but not be breaking the rules from now on.
The rules will depend on each airline though, so don’t start-up WhatsApp to your friend a few rows away just yet. Although it is expected that most, if not all airlines will allow you to use your phone in airplane mode throughout the entire duration of the flight by the end of the year.
These rules will apply to eBook readers, gaming devices, video devices, mp3 players, etc. So long as the devices are in Airplane Mode for landing and take off, but the rest of the time you will be able to use your devices Wi-Fi and Bluetooth features to connect your smart devices.
Regulatory organizations have issued a simple check list to ensure that flyers can still meet the new rules.
1. Make safety your first priority.
2. Changes to PED policies will not happen immediately and will vary by airline. Check with your airline to see if and when you can use your PED.
3. Current PED policies remain in effect until an airline completes a safety assessment, gets FAA approval, and changes its PED policy.
4. Cell phones may not be used for voice communications.
5. Devices must be used in airplane mode or with the cellular connection disabled. You may use the WiFi connection on your device if the plane has an installed WiFi system and the airline allows its use. You can also continue to use short-range Bluetooth accessories, like wireless keyboards.
6. Properly stow heavier devices under seats or in the overhead bins during takeoff and landing. These items could impede evacuation of an aircraft or may injure you or someone else in the event of turbulence or an accident.
7. During the safety briefing, put down electronic devices, books and newspapers and listen to the crewmember’s instructions.
8. It only takes a few minutes to secure items according to the crew’s instructions during takeoff and landing.
9. In some instances of low visibility – about one percent of flights – some landing systems may not be proved PED tolerant, so you may be asked to turn off your device.
10. Always follow crew instructions and immediately turn off your device if asked.
Thank you TechCrunch for providing us with this information.
Up until now if you were using a tablet, smartphone, notebook/laptop or any other electrical device during the takeoff or landing procedure on a flight then you’d of been asked to turn those electrical devices off – irrespective of what you’re doing on them. For many years this has long been the standard procedure for the airline industry. That’s all about to change though after the American Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ruled otherwise, reports Engadget. a 28 member committee decided that flyers should be able to use “most” devices during takeoff and landing on the condition that most connectivity is not engaged – e.g. you should not be streaming data and you should not be engaged in voice calls. The FAA recommends that flyers should be able to continue to work away on documents, listen to music or watch videos (providing these are all done from local storage – no streaming).
Amazon was part of the 28 member committee in the FAA which developed this new ruling and they stated that:
“We’ve been fighting for our customers on this issue for years – testing an airplane packed full of Kindles, working with the FAA, and serving as the device manufacturer on this committee…This is a big win for customers and, frankly, it’s about time” Said Amazon’s Drew Herdener.
If the FAA decides to continue with the recommendations it is anticipated changes could come into effect by early 2014, though the airline industry is expected to be slower to adopt the new standards. Indeed the ruling does not necessarily mean anything will change either as the FAA can ignore the recommendations generated by the 28 member committee.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is making some changes in their rules in regards to the use of readers and tablets during takeoffs and landing, however there is no mention of the use of cellphones.
Once the decision has been made, the FAA may declare the changes by the end of this year. That will include devices such as Kindle e-readers, iPads and other tablet devices, but even Google Glass. The group that was put together by the FAA had employees from companies such as Consumer Electronics Association, FCC, Amazon and even Boeing, followed by aircraft companies and the Association of Flight Attendants.
The evaluation to test if these devices really affected the plane’s inflight systems started in January. The group should be presenting the facts by July 31st, 2013.
Just to note, there is no proof if these electronics affect aeroplanes, especially during takeoff and landing, but the rule kept by FAA allowed the flight attendants to make the decision on which devices can be used and which cannot. It is also believed that the rules that FAA imposes on passengers without proper evaluation may have caused unnecessary panic and even injuries as an 68-year old man punched a 15 year old kid because he refused to turn off his smartphone during the flight, saying that he did it to save the plane.
It was only sometime back when the FCC insisted that FAA should allow these devices to be used during the flight as they allow people to be connected with friends and family and even for business uses, therefore helping to boost America’s economy growth.
