Report: FAA looking into drone used for rep’s wedding video

The Federal Aviation Administration is deciding whether the use of an aerial drone to capture video of Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney’s (D-N.Y.) wedding violated airspace restrictions.  

{mosads}According to The Associated Press, the FAA is looking into a report of an “unmanned aircraft operation” in New York to see if there were any violations of “federal regulations or airspace restrictions.”

Though the statement did not mention Maloney by name, it described the incident as occurring on June 21 in Cold Spring, New York — the site of the wedding. 

Maloney sits on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

“On their wedding day, Sean and Randy were focused on a ceremony 22 years in the making, not their wedding photographer’s camera mounted on his remote control helicopter,” Maloney’s spokeswoman, Stephanie Formas, told the AP. 

The spokesman said there are no enforceable rules that govern “model aircraft like the helicopter used in the ceremony,” according to the AP. 

The FAA is developing plans to increase the use of commercial drones in the United States by next year. 

Just last month, it approved the first commercial drone flight to survey a pipeline in Alaska. However, it has shut down a number of other commercial drone operations around the country. 

The New York Daily News first highlighted the video, which is posted on YouTube by Propellerheads Aerial Photography, earlier this week.