FAA grants over 1,000 Sec 333 exemptions

6th August 2015 - 15:00 GMT | by The Shephard News Team

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The number of Section 333 exemption approvals issued by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has passed 1,000 in support of commercial unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operations in national airspace.

Many of the grants issued by the FAA allow aerial filming for uses such as real estate photography, precision agriculture and motion picture production. Grants have also been given for power distribution tower and wiring inspections and bridge and railroad infrastructure inspections.

Section 333 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 enables the Secretary of Transportation authority to determine if a UAV requires an airworthiness certificate in order to operate in national airspace. The FAA recently streamlined the process for operators to access national airspace to address growing demand for Section 333 authorisations.

In March, the FAA began issuing blanket certificates of waiver or authorisation to Section 333 exemption holders. To speed up Section 333 petitions processing, the FAA began issuing summary grants in April for operations similar to those previously approved.