THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

As to what it could, people are currently trying to find out and the FAA is desperately trying to stop them until it can control what happens in US airspace.

Drones are flying across the U.S. and being used by researchers, farmers, amateur photographers and others.

But if they’re used for commercial purposes, it’s illegal – at least in the view of the Federal Aviation Administration.

Technology has advanced quickly – much faster than the regulations that government officials say are needed to ensure safety.

So as Americans try out drones to deliver beer, photograph university campuses and scout out accident scenes, federal officials have ordered them to stop.

The FAA says it’s illegal to operate a drone for business or commercial purposes, no matter how seemingly benign.

“But that’s not stopping people,” said Ladd Sanger, a Dallas-based aviation lawyer and a managing partner with Slack & Davis. “We’re seeing a lot of people violating the FAA regulation.”

While many people agree there should be guidelines and a framework for commercial use, Sanger said, right now there’s no agreement about what authority the FAA has over drones.

“You have a NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) law judge who says effectively there are no rules,” Sanger said of an administrative law judge who ruled the FAA doesn’t have authority to enforce regulations that don’t exist.

The FAA has appealed. It argues that it has authority to regulate all aircraft, whether manned or unmanned, including the commercial use of a hobby-size unmanned airplane...

The agency does allow the recreational use of airspace by hobbyists with small, radio-controlled, model airplanes for personal use. It generally limits operations to below 400 feet above the ground and away from airports and air traffic.

The FAA is working on operating rules that will apply to a wider variety of users, it said.

The FAA does have good reason to worry about what flies where but the March of Progress isn't about to wait on a government agency.