New FAA Regulations for Drones: What You Need to Know

As an aeronautics school, we have certainly taken note of the fact that drones are soaring in popularity. They can be used to take incredible aerial videos, to race other drones, and to fly just for fun on a nice day. Though these small aircraft seem negligible compared to the commercial planes soaring through the clouds, they are causing big problems in the aviation field. While these devices continue to grow in use, the FAA drone regulations continue to grow in numbers in order to control them.

New FAA Drone Rules and Regulations

As an aircraft dispatcher school, we are concerned with all things aviation, including the new FAA drone regulations that are being rolled out. Flying drones may seem like a free for all, but with the FAA drone rules, this is not the case. If you are a drone flyer, these are the new FAA drone regulations from a notice released on May 17^th that you need to be aware of.

1. Drone owners are now obligated to display their registration number issued by the FAA on the outside of the device rather than in the battery compartment which was previously required. This purpose of this new rule is to make identification of drones easier.
2. Another change involves flying within 5 miles of an airport. Previously, drone owners could notify air traffic control for authorization to do so, but now special authorization is required that cannot be done over the phone.
3. There are other restrictions on where drones can be flown as well. The new regulations restrict flying near sensitive areas like high-security military bases as well as flying near certain infrastructure because of safety concerns.
4. Recreational drone users must now fly their drone within their line of sight so as to easily move out of way if necessary, for any manned aircraft.
5. Perhaps the most drastic new rule mentions a mandatory aeronautical safety and knowledge test that drone users must pass. Currently there is no test developed yet and a date for when this regulation will be put in place has not been announced.

The FAA says that these rules are designed to improve drone flying safety and to mitigate any issues that have arisen since these small aircraft became common for recreational use.

If you are interested in drones and the aviation industry, you may want to consider taking aircraft dispatcher courses at an established dispatcher school like ours and getting your FAA dispatch license. At Sheffield School of Aeronautics, we can help you turn your love of aviation into a successful career.

Sources

1. Federal Register – Exception for Limited Recreational Operations of Unmanned Aircraft