FAA approves - BVLOS operations for three UAS companies

Recently three United States companies received Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) authorisation to fly unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) where their operators cannot see them.

Last month the approvals were approved by the agency for drone parcel delivery operator and UPS subsidiary Flight Forward and avionics provider uAvionix for UAS operations beyond the visual line of sight (BVLOS) of a remote pilot, opening the door to longer flights, new markets and fewer restrictions on ground personnel. The authorisations follow the FAA's granting of similar permissions to drone inspection provider Phoenix Air Unmanned (PAU) in August.

Flight Forward, uAvionix, PAU and a fourth company, medical drone delivery provider Zipline, initially requested BVLOS exemptions earlier this year. Their applications were published in the Federal Register for comment in May, drawing feedback from industry trade associations, aviation groups and even rival companies. The FAA said Zipline's approval is expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

"The FAA is focused on developing standard rules to make BVLOS operations routine, scalable and economically viable," the agency said in its announcement. "The agency chartered the BVLOS Aviation Rulemaking Committee on 9 June 2021, to provide safety recommendations to the FAA. We are reviewing their final report. The FAA's long-term goal is to safely integrate drones into the National Airspace System rather than set aside separate airspace exclusively for drones." With the new authorisations, the FAA hopes to collect data that will inform its proposed rule on UAS BVLOS operations, also published in the Federal Register in May along with the four exemption requests.