Required of makers of new full-sized aircraft
Two San Fernando Valley aerial photography companies were among six that received approval on Thursday from the Federal Aviation Administration to use drones for film and television production.
Pictorvision Inc., in Van Nuys, and Astraeus Aerial, in Encino, filed in May for a first time ever exemption with the FAA to use unmanned aircraft in U.S. airspace on movie and television sets.
Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx determined the aircraft the companies would use pose no threat to national airspace users and would not require an FAA-issued certificate of airworthiness, a lengthy process typically required of makers of new full-sized aircraft.
“Today’s announcement is a significant milestone in broadening commercial UAS (unmanned aircraft systems) use while ensuring we maintain our world-class safety record in all forms of flight,” Foxx said in a prepared statement.
The FAA has been working the past two years on rules that would allow commercial use of unmanned aircraft. The agency has a Sept. 30, 2015, deadline to fully integrate drones of all sizes into the national airspace.
In June, the agency gave approval for the first commercial use of a drone when BP Exploration Inc. in Alaska had a Puma AE fly over the Prudhoe Bay oilfield. The plane was made by AeroVironment Inc., a Monrovia company, as its Simi Valley plant.