The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said on Friday it had approved the first drone flight beyond the operator’s sight line, a major advance for retailers like Amazon.com Inc seeking to speed up deliveries by drone.
Drone flights are currently required to remain in the operating team’s sight to spot and avoid aircraft and other obstacles.
The flight this week by the University of Alaska Fairbanks over an oil pipeline was part of a joint program with the FAA to test “beyond-visual-line-of-sight,” or BVLOS, flights in which drones automatically perform tasks that would otherwise be done manually.
The @uafairbanks #Alaska Center for #UAS Integration has made an important advancement in #drone safety. Learn more about the #FAA’s #DronePilot program at https://t.co/ULT3d77Wez. #FlySafe https://t.co/hVj2kLCJ4Q
— The FAA ?? (@FAANews) August 2, 2019
Cathy Cahill, the director of the university’s drone program, told Reuters that BVLOS flights are important for Alaska due to the lack of roads in remote areas. The test is a milestone for the drone industry as a whole, though. As FAA acting Administrator Dan Elwell said, it advances the industry toward the reliable integration of drones into the airspace.
Amazon, which has been using drones for UK deliveries since 2016, said in June that it expected to start doing so in the United States “in months.”
The joint program advances the industry toward the reliable integration of drones into the airspace, FAA acting Administrator Dan Elwell said in a statement. (Reporting by Bryan Pietsch; Editing by Richard Chang).
