Safety Inspectors Said Filmmakers Plans Involved High Risk

The grant of waivers for some television and film producers allowing use of small UAVs made headlines in September, but according to at least one source, not everyone at the FAA was behind the move.

An enterprise report from the Washington Post indicates that some of the agency's safety inspectors told top officials in multiple emails that the plans proposed by the film and TV companies involved high risk, and the waivers should not be granted.

Since the waivers were granted in September, the agency has reportedly been inundated with requests for exemptions, and some at the agency have said anonymously that upper-level managers are insisting that they be "rubber stamped" without being thoroughly vetted for safety. One former safety official told the paper that there is "huge political pressure" to quickly approve requests, and that "safety is not at the forefront" with Congress because of industry pressure.

The FAA even hired a lobbying company that works with the film and TV industry to look for ways to speed up the approval process ... until it was pointed out that there was a clear conflict of interest.

The article cites several specific examples of objections to waivers that were apparently overruled by the agency.

(Image from file)

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