CNN plans to fly drones over crowds to capture news from above
CNN will soon be the flying news network.
The company announced Wednesday that it had received a waiver form the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to fly a drone over crowds of people.
The Part 107 waiver the company was granted means CNN will be able to fly a 1.37-pound Vantage Robotics Snap flying camera over crowds and at outdoor news events. This is a first-of-its kind approval for the cable news outlet, the company says.
CNN worked for more than two years with the robotics company to research and test the device's deployment. Last year the FAA granted a waiver for CNN to fly a tethered drone for newsgathering purposes.
To get a sense of the type of coverage the device can capture, here's a company overview its capabilities in the San Francisco Bay.
The drone and approval could also be the start of more news coming from above. Look out.
Topics Drones
Sasha is a news writer at Mashable's San Francisco office. She's an SF native who went to UC Davis and later received her master's from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. She's been reporting out of her hometown over the years at Bay City News (news wire), SFGate (the San Francisco Chronicle website), and even made it out of California to write for the Chicago Tribune. She's been described as a bookworm and a gym rat.
