The aerial services company ArrowData has announced that it has received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to operate drones for electronic news gathering.
The company is billing the approval as the first time that a company in the U.S. has received approval to use drones for the purpose of electronic news gathering or ‘AeroJournalism.’.
Other companies, however, have been given exemptions by the FAA that allow them to work on movie and TV productions in closed sets and some of those companies have been hired by news organizations like CNN to produce footage for news stories.
The FAA is in the process of approving regulations that would allow more widespread commercial use of drones.
“This approval from the FAA provides tremendous opportunity for our company to pursue AeroJournalism while working with local FAA officials to ensure safe flight operations,” said James Fleitz, VP of ArrowData in a statement. “Helping news stations of all sizes with the ability to have aerial video is a game changer. This is a tool that stations in all markets will use to better inform the public and we’re proud to be leading the way in this new industry.”
