Drone Regulators Try to Keep Up With Rapidly Growing Technology

Drone technology is developing so quickly--and morphing into commercial uses never before contemplated--that aviation regulators are having trouble keeping pace. Air-safety authorities on both sides of the Atlantic have acknowledged that traditional rule making is too slow and rigid to cope with the rapidly expanding applications of the flying machines, from bridge inspections to land surveys to news photography. And the pressure to spell out exactly what's allowed and what isn't is growing as the industry booms. Millions of hobbyists already operate drones, and over the next few years businesses are projected to begin flying millions more in the U.S. alone. Now regulators are scrambling to draft new, more-nimble rules and procedures.