FAA looking at OK for limited uses of drones

ST. LOUIS -- Federal regulators are moving closer to approving limited commercial use of drones this year in areas such as making films and inspecting power lines.

The head of the Federal Aviation Administration, Michael Huerta, said Tuesday that unmanned aircraft have great potential, but their use must be balanced against safety and privacy concerns. He said that the FAA must consider technology standards for the machines and possible training requirements for their operators.

"Later this year, we're hoping that we're going to be able to look at particular types of commercial operations that we might be able to authorize for some limited uses," Huerta told reporters after he spoke to an airline industry conference.

The FAA's manager of drone integration, Jim Williams, made similar comments to the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, which was meeting in Orlando, Florida. Among possible early uses for drones, Williams cited making films, spraying pesticides and herbicides, monitoring pipelines and inspecting flares at oil facilities. Some of those activities carry risk, so letting drones do the work could reduce deaths and injuries, he said.

Michael Toscano, president of the unmanned-aircraft group, praised the FAA for working with the industry to help the technology take hold.

The popularity of drones has soared in recent years as the machines have become cheaper. Congress directed the FAA to integrate unmanned commercial aircraft into the nation's airspace by September 2015.

The challenges of doing that safely, however, were underscored when an airline pilot reported that in March a drone nearly hit his plane as he prepared to land at Tallahassee, Florida. The FAA has been unable to identify the operator of the drone.