The Federal Aviation Administration just shot down Amazon’s plan to use delivery drones. In a public statement on Monday, the FAA clarified that Amazon Prime Air’s use of model aircraft to deliver products is in fact illegal, because it is “delivering packages for a fee.”
This is after a National Transportation Safety Board judge ruled in March that commercial drones are “completely” legal, a decision which the FAA is appealing.
“If a judge says that the FAA lacks the authority to ban commercial drones, that must mean that commercial drones are legal,” Gizmodo said.
Not according to the FAA. While the FAA authorizes police departments to use drones, the FAA thinks the private sector should be banned from using them for commercial purposes.
The FAA’s statement reads, “Any operation not conducted strictly for hobby or recreational purposes could not be operated under the special rule for model aircraft. Clearly, commercial operations would not be hobby or recreation flights. Likewise, flights that are in furtherance of a business, or incidental to a person’s business, would not be a hobby or recreation flight.”
Thus, Americans are only allowed to use drones for fun, but the government can use them to spy on Americans. Except, just last week, the FAA approved drone use by BP. Is the FAA playing favorites?