The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has released its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). The deadline for public comments is October 6, 2025. The NPRM would create special requirements for newsrooms looking to fly BVLOS missions. It would require applications for shorter-term “permits” and longer-term “certificates,” the latter of which imposes stricter reporting requirements to the FAA.
Summary of Proposed Rule
The FAA proposes that BVLOS operations be authorized under a new “Part 108,” which would parallel the small-drone rule, Part 107, that the FAA implemented in 2016. The NPRM proposes to create several expansive categories of BVLOS operations (i.e., package delivery, agriculture, aerial surveying, etc.) that have particularized restrictions and requirements.
The FAA did not create a distinct category for news operations. Instead, the NPRM explicitly spells out that “newsgathering” falls within the category of “aerial surveying” operations, which permits photography and videography. At a high level, here are some of the proposed rules and limitations on newsgathering (again, categorized in the NPRM under “aerial surveying”):