Washington: The FAA has approved commercial drone flights in the same Dallas-area airspace without visual observers, a first for American aviation.
Wing Aviation and Zipline International have been granted authority to use Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic Management (UTM) technology to securely separate their drones while delivering items. Under this arrangement, the industry controls the airspace under strict FAA safety supervision.
Drone pilots usually need to be able to see the aircraft at all times when operating the drone. But recent developments in air traffic control protocols and technology are offering a crucial first step toward normalizing these Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations.
Businesses can communicate data and flight plans with other authorized users of airspace by using UTM services. This enables the controllers to arrange and control drone flights in shared airspace safely, avoiding one another. Every flight takes place away from crewed aircraft and below 400 feet in the air. According to FAA estimates, the first UTM flights will take place in August, and more authorizations will be granted in the Dallas region shortly after.
The Normalizing UAS BVLOS Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), which would allow drone operators to increase operations while upholding the same high standard of safety as traditional aircraft, is being worked on by the FAA at this time. With the recent FAA reauthorization receiving significant Congressional support, we are on schedule to release the NPRM this year.
In light of the fact that drones are a fundamentally different kind of aircraft than traditional commercial aviation, the FAA's approach to this new NPRM has changed. UTM services are an obvious example of this creative approach. Industry has established the market and technology, and the Agency has collaborated with them on new methods to ensure operations can be done securely. The NPRM was created to enable operations to grow in tandem with the size of the sector.
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