Page 26 - Article-1

"Commercial use of drones is an interesting technology, and we're certainly going to continue to [look at] it,"
Gershenhorn said.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.
PART 2

Dig Deeper
Will Amazon ever actually get to use drones to deliver packages?
Company CEO Jeff Bezos thinks so. So do many other people. They
object to the FAA's ban on the use of commercial drones. They say
that drones can be useful in many fields. These include agriculture
and weather forecasting. Drones would be helpful in search-and-
rescue operations and more. Some companies are going ahead with
drone development, rules or not.

Officials from the Washington Nationals baseball team favor the
commercial use of drones. In February 2014, the team used a small,
four-rotor drone to take publicity photos of the team. But no one
asked the U.S. government for permission. The FAA ordered the Photo credit: Robert Blair via AP
team to stop using the drone after one day. Many farmers want to use unmanned
drones like this one to spray their
FAA officials allow people to fly drones for fun. But they say that crops.
certain uses of commercial drones could be unsafe. Officials say that
there must be rules addressing the special safety challenges associated with unmanned aircraft. These need to
be in place before drones can share the sky with manned aircraft. The agency has worked on those regulations
for the past decade. As of June 2014, it still had not issued final rules for small drones. Small drones are defined
as those weighing less than 55 pounds (25 kilograms). Rules for larger drones are even further off.

But the technology is very appealing. Unmanned drones can sometimes get a view that people can't. They can
also reach locations that are difficult for people to reach. And they can be cheaper to use than manned aircraft.
These are reasons why Amazon.com and the Washington Nationals want to use them. Photographers, real
estate agents, moviemakers, and others are also embracing drones. Several news organizations are studying
their possible uses as well.
It's not easy for the FAA to enforce its ban on drones. It doesn't often find out about violations. To date, it has
charged only one fine on a commercial drone operator. A federal judge dismissed that fine.
Drones are being used outside of the U.S. In Japan, helicopter drones have been spraying crops for 20 years.
Using the drones is cheaper than hiring a plane. In addition, the drones are able to spray crops more accurately.
They fly closer to the ground. Also, their backwash allows the spray to reach the underside of leaves. The
helicopters went into use in South Korea in 2009. Australia began using them in 2013. Television networks use
drones to cover cricket matches there. In the United Kingdom, energy companies use drones. They check the
undersides of oil platforms. The United Arab Emirates has a drone project underway. It wants to deliver
government documents like driver's licenses, identity cards, and permits using small drones.

Jim Williams is head of the FAA's drone office. He said that writing rules for the U.S. is more complex than other
nations. The U.S. has far more air traffic than anywhere else. It also has more types of aircraft. These include hot
air balloons, barnstormers, commercial airliners, and military and business jets. At low altitudes, there is concern
that a small drone could crash with a helicopter or small plane. Still, many want the FAA to speed up the
approval process.

"We don't have the luxury of waiting another 20 years," said Paul McDuffee. He is vice president of drone-
maker Insitu Inc. "This industry is exploding. It's getting to the point where [drones may be used] with or
without the FAA's blessing."
That's how Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos feels. His company has already built several generations of delivery drones.
They're being tested.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Dictionary

GPS technology (noun) tools that use computers to find places or things on Earth