Atlanta-based CNN is the first news organization to sign an agreement with the Federal Aviation Administration allowing it to use drones for news gathering purposes.
“Our aim is to get beyond hobby-grade equipment and to establish what options are available and workable to produce high quality video journalism using various types of [unmanned aerial vehicles] and camera setups,” CNN Senior Vice President David Vigilante said in a statement. “Our hope is that these efforts contribute to the development of a vibrant ecosystem where operators of various types and sizes can safely operate in the US airspace.”
The FAA Administrator Michael Huerta acknowledged the hunger for such use among journalistic organizations: “We hope this agreement with CNN and the work we are doing with other news organizations and associations will help safely integrate unmanned news gathering technology and operating procedures into the National Airspace System.”
CNN began studying the issue last year with Georgia Tech and will provide FAA data as the agency develops policies.
The FAA last September gave six film production companies exemptions to use drones as well.
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