FAA Grants Phoenix Air Unmanned Waiver for BVLOS Flight with Swiss Drones Uncrewed Helicopter

In May, the FAA asked for public input on requests for waivers to fly Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS.) Phoenix Air Unmanned, uAvionix, Zipline, and UPS Flight Forward all applied for waivers: today, FAA announced that Pheonix Air Unmanned has been granted authorization to operate BVLOS for “aerial work, aerial photography, survey and powerline and pipeline patrol and inspection. The authorization allows these operations below 400 feet altitude over certain roads and sparsely populated areas below pre-planned flight paths.”

The agency is reviewing the other requests.

The authorization allows BVLOS flight with an uncrewed vehicle weighing more than 55 pounds, the SwissDrones SVO 50 V2 UAS – a multipurpose uncrewed helicopter. BVLOS is a significant issue for a wide range of industries: from long range infrastructure to completely remote operations or drone-in-a-box solutions, directed from a control center a significant distance away.

Phoenix Unmanned…