Today, almost anyone who flies a drone must maintain visual contact with it at all times, a practice known as visual line of sight. This requirement severely restricts how far craft can fly. When the Federal Aviation Administration rule changes allowing people to fly their drones beyond visual line of sight are finalized, commercial use is likely to soar.
Flight beyond visual line of sight will fundamentally change drone operations, allowing for a wide range of applications. Imagine a drone flying well ahead of a train to ensure the tracks are safe, or large drones monitoring and spraying vast farm fields, improving farm efficiency and reducing labor costs.
Drones, formally called unmanned aircraft systems, or UAS, are being used or developed for a wide variety of applications, such as inspecting pipelines, assessing forests for potential wildfire, finding people needing rescue, assessing disaster damage, monitoring borders and ports, and surveying wildlife and the environment. There is also an emerging industry for using drones to deliver packages – everything from transplant organs to fast food meals.
AP Photo/Charlie Riedel
Companies have been working on these kinds of applications for drones for years, but as a mechanical engineer who studies drones, I see that a combination of technological and regulatory developments are bringing them close to fruition. People could be allowed to fly drones beyond visual line of sight, beyond the few exemptions to current rules, within a year. But a key step is integrating drones into the National Airspace System.
Keeping control in uncontrolled airspace
The National Airspace System comprises controlled and uncontrolled airspace. Air traffic controllers guide planes through controlled airspace, which includes areas around airports, above urban regions and along air routes. Rules cover basic flight aspects of all craft, such as altitude and aircraft separation, and flight paths near or over airports. Drone operators who want to fly in these regions must receive formal FAA authorization for any flight, which also dictates flight paths.
In uncontrolled airspace, air traffic control does not provide services; pilots are responsible for their own navigation and collision avoidance. In these typically rural regions, recreational operators must keep drones below 400 feet and in their line of sight. Other restrictions apply as well: Drones cannot weigh more than 55 pounds, including any payload such as packages, and they must operate only during daylight and with minimum visibility of 3 miles due to weather. Maximum speed relative to the ground is 100 mph, and drones cannot operate within 5 miles of an airport.
In all circumstances, crewed aircraft have absolute right of way. Commercial drone operators must hold an FAA Remote Pilot Certificate. Operators violating any of these rules may be subject to license revocation, significant fines or time in prison. As of early 2026 there were over 800,000 registered drones operating mostly in uncontrolled airspace.
Flying beyond line of sight
Drone operators bear a lot of responsibility, but being allowed to operate beyond visual line of sight would raise the stakes. It could also open tremendous economic opportunities, such as widespread package delivery, inspecting power lines and railroad tracks over long distances, surveying and mapping, extensive search and rescue operations, precision agriculture and crop dusting across large farms, and extended border patrol and environmental monitoring. For many of these applications to succeed, drones would need to operate in a fully autonomous mode.
Full integration of drones into the National Airspace System would require a number of steps. The current FAA Part 107 rule covers operation of drones under 55 pounds. Under the rule, regulators have sometimes issued waivers, exemptions and other authorizations to allow flight operations beyond visual line of sight, but the regulatory process has lagged behind current drone technology.
The FAA is finalizing a new framework called Part 108 to specifically cover flight beyond visual line of sight, including under fully autonomous control and for larger and heavier drones.
AP Photo/Charlie Riedel
Giving drones autonomy
AI could lead to “smart” drones that can fly autonomously and navigate at the same level of safety as crewed aircraft. My work on flight navigation, control and orientation systems indicates that smart drones could see and avoid objects in the air and could execute commands from air traffic control centers accurately and efficiently, including fully autonomous takeoffs and landings. The Northeast UAS Airspace Integration Research Alliance, AURA Network Systems and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems are all working in parallel with the FAA to develop these kinds of advanced capabilities.
Technology alone would not be enough, however. Smart drones would still have to be integrated into the National Airspace System. Several initiatives are underway. The NASA-UAS-NAS project is investigating how drones could use command-and-control technologies to allow them to operate autonomously in the same airspace as crewed aircraft. The FAA Beyond program is developing new flight rules that drones would need.
Regulators and companies would also have to work out complications that drones could pose to the National Airspace System. Many drones are small, so they are harder for crewed aircraft to detect and avoid. Terrorists could exploit drones, raising the need for ways to capture or shoot down rogue drones or overpower their control signals. Special arrangements might be required to counter these kinds of threats at high-risk targets, such as sporting events and large public gatherings, and to protect critical infrastructure, such as the power grid and nuclear facilities.
As Part 108 and other advances allow autonomous drones to surge, regulators will also have to consider public concerns about privacy, malicious actions and nuisance. Increased education and awareness can ease these concerns.
AP Photo/Julio Cortez
Global shift
China, the European Union and Japan have set expanded rules for autonomous drones. The U.S. government, too, recognizes the vast economic and societal potential.
The goal for the FAA’s Part 108 is to accommodate a new approval process for piloting drones beyond visual line of sight as well as a new airworthiness framework for ensuring public safety. A final rule is likely to be implemented within a year or so.
