Recently, British Petroleum’s (BP) North Sea business completed its pilot project to remotely monitor methane emissions of its offshore assets by using an unmanned aerial system (UAS or drone). BP used a fixed-wing UAS with...more
9/30/2019
/ Airspace ,
British Petroleum (BP) ,
Commercial Use ,
Data Collection ,
Data Management ,
Drones ,
Energy Sector ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Innovative Technology ,
Methane ,
Popular ,
Unmanned Aircraft Systems
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and industry partners in the unmanned aerial systems (UAS or drone) traffic management system pilot successfully demonstrated...more
Last week, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) gave the go-ahead for the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) to conduct beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drone operations. The KDOT team, which includes Kansas...more
8/26/2019
/ Airspace ,
Beyond Visual Line Of Sight (BVLOS) ,
Commercial Use ,
Drones ,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ,
Infrastructure ,
Inspections ,
Public Safety ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Safety Standards ,
State and Local Government ,
State Departments of Transportation ,
Unmanned Aircraft Systems
Last week, the Burleigh County Sheriff’s Department in North Dakota received a four-year waiver from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to operate drones over people....more
A beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) flight of a drone traveled along the Trans-Alaska pipeline system (TAPS) this month, led by a team from the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems...more
8/16/2019
/ Airspace ,
Alaska ,
Beyond Visual Line Of Sight (BVLOS) ,
Commercial Use ,
Drones ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Site Assessment ,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Unmanned Aircraft Systems
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) drone initiative has taken off. What does that mean for your company? Currently, OSHA can only use drones for inspection activities with permission from employers....more
United Parcel Service of America, Inc. (UPS) is seeking permission from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to operate a network of commercial drones for purposes of delivering packages all across the U.S. If UPS’...more
Over only a few years’ time, Washington State Patrol (the Patrol) has built a drone fleet of 111 drones. The Patrol says that it uses these small drones for crash investigations and fatality scenes, and not for surveillance...more
In Canada, the drone industry has nearly doubled in size every two years over the past decade. With that boom, Canadian regulators have been grappling with many of the same questions that the U.S. Federal Aviation...more
7/3/2019
/ Airspace ,
Commercial Use ,
Drones ,
New Regulations ,
Public Safety ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Safety Standards ,
Special Flight Operations Certificate (SFOC) ,
Unmanned Aircraft Systems
Amazon CEO, Jeff Bezos, announced Amazon Prime Air, a delivery-by-drone initiative more than five years ago, and last week, Amazon revealed more information about its delivery system–the design. The Amazon delivery drone will...more
Last month, a University of Maryland unmanned aerial system (UAS or drone) delivered a donor kidney to surgeons at the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) in Baltimore for an ultimately successful transplant to a...more
We recently posted about the status of delivery by drone. Now, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has awarded the first air carrier certification to a drone delivery company, Wing Aviation. Wing Aviation will begin...more
Several industry leaders and stakeholders in the unmanned aircraft system (UAS or drone) industry have provided feedback on the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) proposed rules for flying drones at night and over...more
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is expected to award its first license to operate a drone airline in May. Last year, the FAA determined that large-scale commercial package delivery drone operations would require...more
Last year, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced that unmanned aerial system (UAS or drone) delivery operations would be required to obtain a commercial air operator certificate issued under 14 CFR Part 119, as...more
Unmanned aerial systems (UAS or drone) operators will now face stricter oversight and inspections by local Flight Standards District Offices (FSDO) under the new National Policy issued by the Federal Aviation Administration...more
This week, NASA selected the Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems in Las Vegas and the Lone Star UAS Center for Excellence and Innovation in Corpus Christi, Texas to host the final phase of its four-year series of unmanned...more
Last week, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released an updated interim rule in the Federal Register which requires drone owners to display their FAA-issued registration number on the external surface of the drone. ...more
Intel won’t disclose exactly how it was able to participate in the Super Bowl LIII halftime show, but it did disclose that it used 150 Intel Shooting Star drones to spell out the words “ONE” and “LOVE” during the musical...more
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has been busy even in the midst of the government shutdown. Last week, Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Elaine Chao unveiled a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for unmanned...more
1/25/2019
/ Airspace ,
Comment Period ,
Commercial Use ,
Department of Transportation (DOT) ,
Drones ,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ,
Public Safety ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Safety Standards ,
Unmanned Aircraft Systems
State Farm has become the very first company in the United States to receive a waiver from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for drone operations over people and beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS). The waiver is...more
1/14/2019
/ Airspace ,
Beyond Visual Line Of Sight (BVLOS) ,
Commercial Use ,
Drones ,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ,
Insurance Claims ,
Insurance Industry ,
Part 107 ,
Public Safety ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Safety Standards ,
State Farm ,
Unmanned Aircraft Systems ,
Waivers
Last month, Shell Global (Shell) announced its plan to deploy unmanned aircraft systems (UAS or drones) in a pilot project to inspect equipment at its Shell Technology Center in Houston, Texas, one of its three global...more
On the remote island of Erromango, in the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu, a one-month old child was given vaccines for hepatitis and tuberculosis via drone delivery....more
The Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) nationwide deployment of the Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC) system has processed more than 50,000 applications from drone operators for authorization...more
One-hundred (100) Intel drones will hit the stage this holiday season at Radio City Music Hall to perform with the Rockettes in the production of the Christmas Spectacular. ...more