The Buzz | US issues commercial drone permits to 4 companies

Under pressure from Congress to speed access to U.S. skies for commercial drones, the government granted four companies permission yesterday to use drones for aerial surveillance, construction site monitoring and oil rig flare stack inspections. The new permits bring the total number of companies granted permits for commercial operations to 13. They were announced by the Federal Aviation Administration an hour before a House hearing at which lawmakers warned that if the agency doesn’t move faster, Congress will step in. Commercial drone flights are taking off in other countries while the U.S. lags behind in developing safety regulations that would permit unmanned aircraft operations by a wide array of industries, Gerald Dillingham of the Government Accountability Office testified at the hearing.