On October 5th, hobbyists will no longer be able to fly their drones around ten US landmarks. The Department of the Interior and the FAA have restricted UAV flights within 400 feet of the monuments, which include the Statue of Liberty, Mount Rushmore and the Hoover Dam.


No reason was given for the new restrictions on the FAA post announcing them, though the department's data website notes it was by request of the Department of Defense along with federal intelligence agencies due to "National Security, or Intel Agency or National Defense" concerns. Regardless, the restriction is classified as temporary, and it's the first time the department has banned hobbyist UAVs from flying over monuments, though the FAA has long banned them from military bases. Individuals can request an exemption from each landmark's staff and/or the FAA itself.
The ban goes into effect on October 5th, and the list of monuments will be added to the FAA's B4UFLY app. Here are all ten landmarks you can no longer fly within 400 feet of when making your sweet long-exposure YouTube vids:

  • Statue of Liberty National Monument, New York, NY
  • Boston National Historical Park (U.S.S. Constitution), Boston, MA
  • Independence National Historical Park, Philadelphia, PA
  • Folsom Dam; Folsom, CA
  • Glen Canyon Dam; Lake Powell, AZ
  • Grand Coulee Dam; Grand Coulee, WA
  • Hoover Dam; Boulder City, NV
  • Jefferson National Expansion Memorial; St. Louis, MO
  • Mount Rushmore National Memorial; Keystone, SD
  • Shasta Dam; Shasta Lake, CA
And before you ask -- no, none of those overlap with the ten monuments Trump-appointed DOI Secretary Ryan Zinke wants to reopen for commercial fishing, logging and cattle grazing.


Via: Aviation Pros
Source: FAA