FAA may ease drone regulations on 'line of sight' requirements

SANTA CRUZ, California — The FAA may loosen regulations on commercial drone operators that would make it easier for businesses, like Amazon, to operate drone-based services.

Speaking at the Drone, Data X Conference in Santa Cruz Friday, the FAA's Jim Williams acknowledged the need to ease the regulation known as "line of sight" that requires commercial drones be kept within the field of view of the pilot.

"We understand there’s a lot of value in flying out of line of sight and that’s one of the areas we’re looking to get ahead rapidly in the next few years," said Williams, who heads up the FAA’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration Office Read more...