U.S. FAA grants four companies permission to use drones commercially
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said on Wednesday it granted exemptions to four companies to use drones commercially for aerial surveying, construction site monitoring and oil rig flare stack inspections, further opening the U.S. airspace to drone flights by businesses.
The four companies, Trimble Navigation Ltd, VDOS Global LLC, Clayco Inc and Woolpert Inc, said in their petitions to the FAA that they would operate drones weighing less than 55 pounds (25 kg) and keep them within view at all times.
The FAA granted exemptions in September and October allowing seven television and film companies to use drones for aerial photography and filming.
The latest FAA approvals broaden the uses of commercial drones, and come as the agency prepares to release a draft rule on drones by the end of December.
The FAA has been under mounting pressure from companies seeking to use drones to survey crops, inspect remote power lines, pipelines and flare stacks, conduct search-and-rescue operations and deliver packages, among other uses.
The U.S. drone industry is expected to generate $13.6 billion (8.6 billion pounds) in economic activity and create 70,000 jobs in the three years after restrictions on commercial use are lifted, according to a study by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International.
The FAA currently bans most commercial drone flights, but is required by Congress to integrate drones into the U.S. airspace by Sept. 30, 2015.
(Reporting by Alwyn Scott and Eric Beech; Editing by Bill Trott and Jeffrey Benkoe)
