ParaZero announced recently that a UAS operator using the their SafeAir System was granted the first FAA waiver for flight over people. The waiver was issued to an operator in North Dakota called Botlink with the SafeAir parachute system attached to a DJI Phantom 4 drone. Botlink plans to use the waiver to aid with local law enforcement missions as well as creating content for the North Dakota DOT UAS Integration Pilot Program.
They actually used the waiver for the first time prior to the North Dakota State University football game vs South Dakota. The drone was flown over tailgaters in the stadium parking lot to provide real-time aerial surveillance for local law enforcement and the media. The parachute system is the primary reason the waiver was issued as the nature of its function means that impact speeds are low enough to cause no or minimal damage to persons below. Here's some statements from ParaZero about it.
“We spent many months developing and testing our parachute systems. The data that was collected from these tests was provided to the FAA and is a critical component of the waiver application.” said Avi Lozowick, Director of Policy and Strategy at ParaZero. “We had to prove to the FAA that the descent rate was consistently low enough to provide an acceptable impact energy and that the system will work properly in all types of failure scenarios.”
“Our goal is to enable the UAS industry to reach its full potential by opening the skies for business. Until today, the handful of existing waivers for flight over people have either been for closed-set operations or for very lightweight and sometimes frangible UAS. This waiver opens the gates for safe flight over people with larger, more advanced UAS that can carry more sophisticated payloads and cameras.” said Eden Attias, ParaZero’s CEO, “This is a major step towards reaching our goal. We hope to learn from this process together with the FAA and are eager to see additional waivers for flight over people in the future.”
Thread Tools |
|
|
|
I see this uses "a fully autonomous triggering system that deploys quickly and reliably without being dependent on the operator’s response time", and also stops the props. Better hope it's bug-free then
|
Latest blog entry: Eachine QX65 FPV quad review
|
|
|
|
|
In this case, they don't need to "get the bug" as it's intended for a Part 107 pilot.
|
|
|
Thread Tools | |
Similar Threads | |||||
Category | Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Discussion | FAA Part 107 CNN Waiver Granted To Unfinished Snap Drone | SergeantAsh | Model Aircraft & Drone Advocacy | 3 | Oct 27, 2017 02:10 PM |
Help! | Help with FAA Waivers - 3 statute miles | BabiiMuffin | Electric Plane Talk | 3 | Feb 12, 2017 10:45 AM |
Discussion | World's first FPV race over public people ! | djdjm600 | FPV Racing | 0 | Nov 06, 2016 07:10 PM |
Discussion | The FAA is trying to fine a model aircraft hobbyist for the first time ever | jkoebler | FPV Talk | 50 | May 13, 2014 02:58 PM |