Amazon will soon be able to test its drones in
the U.S. FAA will permit Amazon's "experimental airworthiness certificate" to fly drones but only at altitudes of 400 feet or
below, and only during daylight hours when the weather doesn't obscure vision.
In addition, the drone's operator must always have a
line-of-sight to the craft, and that person needs to be a qualified pilot,
complete with medical certification. On top of that, the FAA requires Amazon to
provide it with monthly data on its test flights, including the number of
tests, how long pilots spend flying the drones and complete records of any
software or hardware malfunctions. The FAA said this was routine for a certificate like Amazon's, which the organization issues to companies that don't already operate some kind of aircraft. The certificate is a big step forward for Prime Air, the company's program in development that will ship products to Amazon Prime customers within a half-hour via drone. CEO Jeff Bezos unveiled Prime Air on 60 Minutes in late 2013, although he cautioned it was years away. Google is planning a similar service, being developed by its Google X division, called Project Wing.
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