Amazon is a giant step closer to drone delivery

A few months ago it seemed as thoughdrone delivery was not going to happen for Amazon.com. Now the retailer's dreams of Amazon packagesflying through the sky are a lot closer to reality, thanks to the FAA.

Amazon.com has received preliminary approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to research, develop and test drone delivery -- but that doesn't mean customers can expect their orders to arrive by drone anytime soon.

According to a news release from the FAA, the agency has granted the company an "experimental airworthiness certificate."

The FAA says: "Under the provisions of the certificate, all flight operations must be conducted at 400 feet or below during daylight hours in visual meteorological conditions. The [drone] must always remain within visual line-of-sight of the pilot and observer. The pilot actually flying the aircraft must have at least a private pilot’s certificate and current medical certification. The certificate also requires Amazon to provide monthly data to the FAA. The company must report the number of flights conducted, pilot duty time per flight, unusual hardware or software malfunctions, any deviations from air traffic controllers’ instructions, and any unintended loss of communication links. The FAA includes these reporting requirements in all experimental airworthiness certificates."

Read the FAA release here.