Dive Brief:
- In a letter to the Federal Aviation Administration, 29 U.S. professors are lobbying for “freer and open access” to drone aircraft technology.
- The letter is a response to the FAA’s recent pronouncement that it has authority over anything that flies, including unmanned aircraft close to the ground, and its effective ban on the commercial use of drones.
- Among the letter writers were professors from Harvard University, Stanford University, Duke University, Smith College, and the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. They were assisted by attorney Brendan Schulman, who has defended multiple cases involving FAA drone regulation, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Dive Insight:
The FAA’s policy has effectively grounded college and university courses that use drones to teach about flying and designing aircraft, as well as other research and scientific applications. Public universities can apply for permission to use unmanned aircraft in drones in limited cases, but private universities cannot. The FAA has extended its public comment period on drone policy to Sept. 23, and over 29,000 comments have already been received by the FAA and Transportation Department.