Drones strapped with just a video camera do not pose a threat to America's national security, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The new equipment's capability could give filmmakers better angles to capture superheroes destroying cities on screen, though.
The FAA approved "operating exemptions" for six photo and video aerial production companies to use unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) for filming movies and TV shows in the United States' airspace. U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx made the announcement on a conference call with FAA administrator Michael Huerta and Chris Dodd, the CEO and chairman of the Motion Pictures Association of America, on Sept. 25.
"Today's announcement is a victory for audiences everywhere, as it gives filmmakers yet another way to push creative boundaries and create the kinds of scenes and shots we could only imagine just a few years ago," Dodd said in a statement.
The production drones also will not require an FAA-issued certificate of airworthiness because the agency determined the UAS do not pose a threat to national airspace users or national security. Countries such as Bulgaria and the U.K. have already begun using the technology.
"Our industry has a history of successfully using this innovative technology overseas - making movies like "Skyfall" and "Transformers: Age of Extinction," to name a couple - and we are proud to now be on the leading edge of its safe commercial use here at home," Dodd said. "The Expendables 3" movie and HBO's "Game of Thrones" have also used the technology.
Seven productions requested permission to use the technology, including Astraeus Aerial, Aerial MOB, LLC, HeliVideo Productions, LLC, Pictorvision Inc, RC Pro Productions Consulting, LLC dba Vortex Aerial, Snaproll Media, LLC and Flying-Cam, Inc. The latter needed to provide additional information, which the FAA currently has under review, according to national aviation authority.
"We are ecstatic that finally, we can legally fly UAS for filmmaking," Tom Hallman, president of Pictorvision, told The Hollywood Reporter. "It puts us back on an even keel with other countries that have been doing this for a number of years now."
The production companies pledged to have their operators hold private pilot certificates, keep the drone within sight at all times and restrict flights to the "sterile area" on the set, according to the FAA. The aviation authority also required inspection of the aircraft before all flights and no flights after dark.
