FAA Authorizes Sinclair News Drones

The FAA has authorized Sinclair to fly drones over people and moving vehicles for newsgathering without requiring a waiver, said a Sinclair release Wednesday. Sinclair said it's the first broadcast media company to receive such an authorization from the FAA. Scott Livingston, Sinclair's senior vice president-news, said that by “incorporating expanded drone footage,” the company enhances its news coverage of breaking news, weather and other events. Sinclair’s unmanned aerial systems program launched in 2016, operates “across 50 newsrooms nationwide and has completed over 40,000 logged flights to date,” the release said. The program includes 148 FAA-certified pilots and 540 trained visual observers, it said. The company’s drone pilots train at Virginia Tech. “The FAA’s authorization allows Sinclair to operate specially modified drones while adhering to strict safety protocols and procedures that meet federal requirements.”