Drone Tracking Plan Moves U.S. Delivery by Air Closer to Reality

  • Advisory panel lays out options for identifying wayward drones
  • Tracking is key for safety, commercial drone expansion
Photographer: Arnaldur Haldorsson/Bloomberg
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Deliveries by drones took a step closer to being allowed in the U.S. after a federal advisory panel agreed on a framework for allowing law enforcement to routinely track the small devices.

The committee’s report to the Federal Aviation Administration, released Tuesday, is a significant step toward widening drone flights to allow them over people, urban areas and over long distances. A system to track and identify drones is necessary before companies such as as Alphabet Inc.’s X and Amazon.com Inc. can deliver packages via unmanned drones, or for utilities and railroads can broaden their use for inspections.