FAA Says 'No Gray Area' For Journalists Using UAVs | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-06.23.25

Airborne-NextGen-06.24.25

AirborneUnlimited-06.25.25

Airborne-AffordableFlyers-06.26.25

AirborneUnlimited-06.27.25

Wed, Jan 08, 2014

FAA Says 'No Gray Area' For Journalists Using UAVs

Photographer Had Used Aircraft For Aerial Shots

A photographer who thought he was technically legal when he used a UAV to capture video from 30 feet above the ground has discovered that the FAA does not see it that way.

Jesse Tinsley was the journalist who used a camera mounted on a small UAV to get the shots he wanted. He had said it was "not illegal, but currently in a gray area," according to a report appearing on a blog from the Poynter Institute.

But FAA spokesperson Les Dorr said "There is no gray area." Hobbyists flying RC aircraft are OK, within certain guidelines. But anything that has a hint of commercial activity, including journalism, is verboten, according to the FAA.

Dorr said a cease-and-desist notice is usually enough, and that usually the UAV operators are cooperative. He said that the FAA's soon-to-be-published guidelines for UAV use will clear up a lot of the confusion surrounding their use.

(Image from file)

FMI: www.faa.gov

Advertisement

More News

TikToker Arrested After Landing His C182 in Antarctica

19-Year-Old Pilot Was Attempting to Fly Solo to All Seven Continents On his journey to become the first pilot to land solo on all seven continents, 19-year-old Ethan Guo has hit a >[...]

Classic Aero-TV: Versatile AND Practical - The All-Seeing Aeroprakt A-22 LSA

From 2017 (YouTube Edition): A Quality LSA For Well Under $100k… Aeroprakt unveiled its new LSA at the Deland Sport Aviation Showcase in November. Dennis Long, U.S. Importer>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (06.27.25): Hazardous Weather Information

Hazardous Weather Information Summary of significant meteorological information (SIGMET/WS), convective significant meteorological information (convective SIGMET/WST), urgent pilot>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (06.27.25)

Aero Linx: Historic Aircraft Association (HAA) The Historic Aircraft Association (HAA) was founded in 1979 with the aim of furthering the safe flying of historic aircraft in the UK>[...]

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (06.27.25)

"We would like to remember Liam not just for the way he left this world, but for how he lived in it... Liam was fearless, not necessarily because he wasn't afraid but because he re>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC