政府草案让亚马逊无人机有翅难飞

    近日，亚马逊的快递服务计划遇到了重大障碍，原因是美国联邦航空管理局（FAA）和美国交通部就无人机运营提出了新的规定。

    如果两部门的草案被完整通过，亚马逊在美国推出无人机快递业务的计划可能受阻。

    这项草案规定，无人机操作者必须让无人机一直保持在自己的视线之内，而且不能让机器飞越对其没有控制力的人。对亚马逊的Prime Air快递系统来说，这些规定是个坏消息。在之前的演示中，Prime Air无人机为全自动飞行，无需人工操作。

    不过，亚马逊表示仍打算用无人机给客户送货，并要求政府部门重新考虑上述草案，以及它可能对企业产生什么样的影响。

    亚马逊全球公共政策副总裁保罗•米塞纳在一份声明中表示：“FAA需要启动并迅速完成相应的官方程序，以解决我们的业务需求，进而满足我们客户的需要。我们仍致力于实现Prime Air这一愿景，并准备在获得监管支持的地区部署该系统。”

    上述规定还将无人机的重量限制在55磅（24.97公斤）以下。亚马逊此前曾表示，该公司无人机的最大运载能力初步将定为5磅（2.27公斤）。

    FAA于近期公布了上述无人机监管草案。该部门强调，这并非最终规定，而且它正在向相关各方征询意见。

    FAA局长迈克尔•许尔塔发表声明称：“我们一直在设法制定灵活的规定。我们希望像现在一样保持出色的航空安全水平，同时避免给一个新兴行业带来不必要的监管负担。”

    FAA将在60天内听取公众对上述规定的意见。它特别提到了一些可供探讨的内容，其中包括是否应该允许无人机脱离操作者的视线，以及如果允许的话，操作者可操作无人机飞多远。

    亚马逊此前希望在2015年推出Prime Air系统，只是具体时间必然要取决于监管审批；该公司首席执行官杰夫•贝佐斯甚至说这是“乐观”预期。现在，亚马逊网站对这项业务的介绍要比以前有魄力得多，它说“让Prime Air系统投入运作需要一些时间，但只要获得所需的监管支持，我们就会将其付诸实施，从而让我们的愿景成为现实。”

    亚马逊最初于2013年披露了Prime Air系统以及用无人机送快递的远大目标，这是该公司采取广泛措施来进一步提高快递速度的举措之一。贝佐斯在介绍这个项目时说，无人机可以在30分钟内将包裹从亚马逊的运营中心送到10英里（约16公里）远的地方。

    把无人机视为潜在快递工具的公司并非亚马逊一家。谷歌、达美乐比萨和阿里巴巴也都一直在就此进行测试。（财富中文网）

    译者：Charlie

    审稿：李翔

    Amazon’s proposed delivery service hit some significant turbulence Sunday with proposed new rules for drone operation from the Federal Aviation Administration and Department of Transportation.

    If passed as initially outlined, the guidelines could prevent the company from launching the service in the U.S.

    Under the draft of the regulations, drone operators must remain within a visual line of site from their drones and are not allowed to fly drones over people who aren’t in control of the aircraft. The rules are bad news for Prime Air, which Amazon had previously showcased using autonomous drones that were not manually operated by staffers.

    Amazon, though, said it is still committed to delivering packages to customers via drones, and called on the government agency to rethink its proposal and how it might impact corporations.

    “The FAA needs to begin and expeditiously complete the formal process to address the needs of our business, and ultimately our customers,” said Paul Misener, Amazon’s vice president for global policy, in a statement. “We are committed to realizing our vision for Prime Air and are prepared to deploy where we have the regulatory support we need.”

    The rules also limit the weight of an unmanned aircraft to under 55 lbs. Amazon had previously said the initial weight capacity of its drones would belimited to 5 lbs.

    The FAA released the proposal for rules regarding drones on Sunday. The agency stressed that the proposals are not final, and that it is seeking input from all interested parties.

    “We have tried to be flexible in writing these rules,”said FAA Administrator Michael Huerta in a statement. “We want to maintain today’s outstanding level of aviation safety without placing an undue regulatory burden on an emerging industry.”

    The FAA is accepting public comments on the proposed regulation for the next 60 days. Among the areas it specifically mentioned as being up for discussion: whether the rules should permit operations beyond line of sight, and if so, how far operators would be able to fly drones.

    Amazon had previously hoped to launch Prime Air in 2015, although that date was always dependent on regulatory approval, and even Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos called it “optimistic.” Now the language on the service’s page is much more ambiguous, saying “Putting Prime Air into service will take some time, but we will deploy when we have the regulatory support needed to realize our vision.”

    Amazon initially unveiled Prime Air and its drone delivery ambitions in 2013 as part of a broader effort to further speed up deliveries. In announcing the program, Bezos said the drones could deliver packages within a 10 mile radius of the company’s fulfillment centers within 30 minutes.

    Amazon is not the only company looking to drones as possible delivery systems. Google GOOG 1.12% , Domino’s Pizza and Alibaba BABA 2.24% have also been conducting trials.