The US aviation authority FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) has for the first time given a clearance for fully automated drone flights by a commercial company. This gives an initial permit for a single company in the USA to use its drones subject to conditions, but in principle without a human pilot and without direct monitoring or control by an observer on site.

Low altitude and only in rural areas As reported by American Robotics Inc. from Massachusetts, the FAA has the Approval granted on Thursday. This makes the company the first to receive such a license for commercial drone flights. The clearance by the FAA is only valid for flights in rural areas and for an altitude of less than 400 feet (approx. 122 Meter). So far, the FAA had approved the use of automatically operating drones in individual cases, but a pilot had to be nearby.

The approval should advance the commercial use of drones in the fields of agriculture, transport and mining, reports the Wall Street Journal in connection with FAA decision. According to the WSJ, the FAA also notes in the documents for the permit that the large-scale use of drones in these economic sectors could lead to increased efficiency. In addition, some manufacturing branches could benefit from it.

Remote monitoring The “Scout” type of drone from American Robotics is used for imaging processes, uses, according to the company, flight programs specified in advance and relies on acoustic sensors to avoid obstacles, birds or other drones. The drones could also land unscheduled in emergencies or in the event of a malfunction. The drones can be monitored from a very great distance. The FAA writes that it conducts thorough safety reviews before unmanned aerial vehicles are released.

In October 2019 the FAA had for the first time allowed a commercial, unmanned cargo flight by drone by a pilot. UPS Flight Forwards was granted unrestricted permission to operate cargo flights at night and out of sight of the pilot.

(tiw)