FAA Looking Into Use of Drones in Journalist's Tornado Coverage

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Haley Hracke, front, and Melissa Nichols, search for belongings at a friend's home that was destroyed by Sunday's tornado, Tuesday, April 29, 2014, in Vilonia, Ark.

Image: Eric Gay/Associated Press

By Jason Abbruzzese2014-04-29 21:27:00 UTC

Tensions between drone journalists and the Federal Aviation Administration may be coming to a boil.

The regulator of America's airways is looking into the use of aerial drones by journalists in Arkansas to survey tornado damage, an FAA spokesperson confirmed to Mashable. The story, as first reported by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, is the latest move by the FAA as it attempts to regulate unmanned aerial systems, which may or may not fall under its jurisdiction.

Brian Emfinger, a stormchaser and photojournalist for KATV, the ABC affiliate in Little Rock, Arkansas, tweeted out footage that he claimed to have shot from a drone just after a tornado ripped through the town of Mayflower.

Emfinger declined to comment to Mashable.

Drone use by journalists has become a sensitive issue. The FAA has tried to limit the practice, even going so far as to send a cease and desist letter to the Drone Journalism Lab at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Moves by the FAA to limit or punish the use of drones by journalists could fun afoul of the First Amendment, which precludes the government from infringing on the freedom of the press.

The FAA has already attempted to regulate commercial drone use, having tried to fine a commercial photographer. A court ruled the FAA did not have that authority — a ruling the agency is appealing.

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Topics: Arkansas, Drones, faa, Media, tornadoes, U.S., US & World