Officials with the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) sent a letter to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) offering AMA’s more than 80 years of experience in the investigation of any potential incident involving a manned and unmanned aircraft system (UAS). In the letter, AMA President Rich Hanson writes: “The recent potential incidents involving manned […]
Unmanned Aerial Systems
Drone training for first responders
Kansas State University Polytechnic Campus is working with law enforcement to offer a training course specifically targeted at how first responders can use unmanned aircraft systems in daily operations and safety procedures. The first course runs April 9-12, 2018, at the campus in Salina. Kurt Carraway, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel and the executive […]
Geospatial Intelligence program goes online
THIEF RIVER FALLS, Minn. — With drone technology advancing into more and more industries, the aerospace department at Northland Community & Technical College (NCTC) is gearing up to take its Geospatial Intelligence Analysis program online this fall. The move to a distance learning format will allow the college to train students around the world for […]
Drone Pilot Code released
As a way to address safety concerns arising from the widespread use of small unmanned aircraft, the Aviators Code Initiative and the University Aviation Association have released a code for drone pilots aimed at advancing safety, airmanship, and professionalism. The Unmanned Aircraft Systems Pilots Code (UASPC) provides a set of principles and practices to help […]
More than 1 million drones registered
Work continues on ways to safely integrate unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) into the National Airspace System, as the U.S. Department of Transportation revealed earlier this month that more than 1 million drones have been registered with the FAA. That figure includes 878,000 recreational operators, who are each assigned a single identification number for all UAS […]
Shark Tank for drones
Five finalists of the first Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) Innovation Challenge will get 10 minutes to sell their new technology to government and industry representatives on Feb. 7, 2018. This is AUVSI’s inaugural Innovation Challenge, which gives small, start-up and early stage companies operating in the commercial, defense, and non-traditional unmanned systems or […]
New Jersey bans drunk drone flying
On his last day in office, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed a law making it illegal to fly an unmanned drone aircraft after too many drinks, according to a report from Reuters. The new law prohibits flying a drone with a blood alcohol content of 0.08% or higher, the same as for driving a […]
Development of autonomous air tanker begins
The arsenal of airborne tactics available to firefighters and first responders may soon grow as Thrush Aircraft has formed an alliance with unmanned aerial vehicle and systems manufacturer Drone America to begin development of the world’s first autonomous air tanker. The new tanker is expected to blend Thrush’s airframe and airborne delivery system expertise with […]
New report: Only a small percentage of drone reports pose safety risk
The Unmanned Aircraft Safety Team (UAST) Drone Sightings Working Group has released a new report on the FAA’s 3,714 drone sightings reports collected by flight crews, air traffic controllers and citizens from November 2015 to March 2017. The report found that only a small percentage of drone reports pose a safety risk, while the vast […]