Amazon received an updated letter of approval from the FAA this week to test its package delivery drones after the company said its initial waiver came so late it was “obsolete.” Meanwhile, the FAA stated on its website it’s expediting these types of updated approvals and will also allow sport pilots with driver’s licenses to operate the unmanned aerial vehicles. Amazon’s approval, good for two years, has similar operating restrictions from the original, including flights no higher than 400 feet AGL in daytime visual conditions. Also, the drone’s operator can now hold a sport pilot certificate instead of the original required minimum of a private pilot certificate.
Amazon had received its initial experimental airworthiness certificate for its Prime Air program in March, eight months after filing its request with the FAA. Soon after, Amazon executive Paul Misener told a congressional committee the long wait rendered the request “obsolete” and the FAA needs to give companies like his blanket approval to accommodate changes to UAV designs. Proposed regulations for commercial UAVs are in the rulemaking process, but for now businesses have to obtain FAA permission to operate drones. Media outlets in the U.K., which have been following Amazon’s UAV ambitions with interest, noted that the U.S. has taken some steps toward accommodating commercial drone operations but has a long way to go. British transport minister Robert Goodwill told The Telegraph the U.K. wants to work with Amazon and intends to be a forerunner in drone development.
See the FAA letter to Amazon here (PDF).
