Opinion
Law and Order in the skies
On Tuesday, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced that it has approved oil company BP to perform drone flights to survey roads, pipelines, and other equipment in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. This is the first commercial drone authorization and is a step forward in the effort to spread the commercial use of unmanned aircraft. It does not, however, represent a viable approach to regulating these aircraft. Alaska’s remoteness is unrepresentative of the lower 48. Moreover, the drones approved for Alaska are adaptations of military fixed-wing models, and the approval is layered with restrictions pertinent to specifics of the vehicles and the territory.