Unmanned Aerial Vehicle The latest drone news
The FAA has made an inventory of nationwide monuments and historic websites off limits to drones inside 400 toes of the lateral boundaries, citing issues by the Department of the Interior (DOI.) The FAA says that it’s going to think about including extra websites to the checklist of 10 printed yesterday as different federal businesses request restrictions. The new restrictions will take impact on October 5.
“At the request of U.S. national security and law enforcement agencies, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is using its existing authority under Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) § 99.7 – “Special Security Instructions” – to deal with issues about unauthorized drone operations over 10 Department of the Interior (DOI) websites, together with the Statue of Liberty and Mount Rushmore,” says the company.
The websites listed are:
- Statue of Liberty National Monument, New York, NY
- Boston National Historical Park (U.S.S. Constitution), Boston, MA
- Independence National Historical Park, Philadelphia, PA
- Folsom Dam; Folsom, CA
- Glen Canyon Dam; Lake Powell, AZ
- Grand Coulee Dam; Grand Coulee, WA
- Hoover Dam; Boulder City, NV
- Jefferson National Expansion Memorial; St. Louis, MO
- Mount Rushmore National Memorial; Keystone, SD
- Shasta Dam; Shasta Lake, CA
The new restrictions may have a major impression on drone operators – a fast Google search on “drone photos of Statue of Liberty,” for instance, ends in 1000’s of photographs. But the FAA says that operators who violate the brand new restrictions could also be topic to civil penalties and potential legal fees.
This represents the primary time that the FAA has restricted the area over monuments. Similar restrictions exist over army bases.
The FAA has created instruments to make operators conscious of the restrictions, and warn that particular circumstances will probably be few: “There are only a few exceptions that permit drone flights within these restrictions, and they must be coordinated with the individual facility and/or the FAA,” says the company.
“To ensure the public is aware of these restricted locations, the FAA has created an interactive map online. The link to these restrictions is also included in the FAA’s B4UFLY mobile app. The app will be updated within 60 days to reflect these airspace restrictions. Additional information, including frequently asked questions, is available on the FAA’s UAS website.”
