“Not unfortunately part of a systematic framework as seen in Europe and many other countries around the world,” he added. The approval issued by the FAA for is an exemption under the FAA’s Part 91 rules. “Whilst this does mean we are set for growth in the large drone sector, especially in critical infrastructure inspection, it is not that simple,” explained Amberg. “It is not the same as manned aviation, where you have either type certification, then you’re rubber-stamped to do whatever you want with that aircraft, or no flight approval at all.”

“This first ever issued civil BVLOS approval for a helicopter of that size in the US is going to unlock that market for commercial operations, particularly in the domain of long-range critical infrastructure inspections ,” Ulrich Amberg, CEO, SwissDrones – the OEM supplying Phoenix Air Unmanned with its SDO 50 V2 aircraft told Revolution.Aero. Data collected from these operations will inform the FAA’s ongoing policy and rulemaking activities. The authorization allows these operations below 400 feet altitude over certain roads and sparsely populated areas below pre-planned flight paths. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has approved commercial beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) operations for four companies: Phoenix Air Unmanned, uAvionix, UPS Flight Forward and Zipline, to conduct drone operations at 400ft or below, following a request for public input in June.

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