The Federal Aviation Administration failed to meet Wednesday’s deadline for creating national drone regulations.
“Our main, overriding goal is safety,” an FAA spokesperson told NBC News, noting that final rules for drone flight should be in place “late next spring.”
Back in 2012, Congress told the FAA to find a way to integrate unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), also known as drones, into U.S. airspace. Right now, commercial drone operators work in a regulatory gray zone, many hoping to get something called a “Section 333 exemption” that lets them fly before the official rules have been worked out. So far, 1,800 of those exemptions have been handed out, according to the FAA.
