We didn’t think we’d see this today, but it’s cool: Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg flew a drone today. And not just any drone — it was a DJI Inspire 2.
Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg is a busy guy. Not only is there the work of the day, but people at that level are often traveling and looking at innovative programs (or persistent problems) related to their portfolio.
And so it was that Pete Buttigieg found himself today at Baltimore’s Global Air Drone Academy.
Global Air Drone Academy
To be honest, we hadn’t heard of this organization previously. But once we had a look, we can see why Pete Buttigieg wanted to pay a visit (and why he flew a drone). Here’s how the organization describes itself on its website:
We provide a STEM-based learning experience into drone engineering, coding, and entrepreneurship in this growing industry. Over 3 years, we have provided training to more than 6000 students in 400+ schools, in over 8 countries. Headquartered in Baltimore, MD, USA we are a registered 501(c)3 educational non-profit organization.
And there’s more about the Academy’s mission that really resonates:
Global Air Drone Academy’s mission is to prepare underserved youth for ‘STEAM’ (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Math) education and entrepreneurship, on a global scale.
So we can see why the Secretary of Transportation wanted to drop by and meet the people — and students — involved with the program.
Pete Buttigieg flew a drone!
Secretary Buttigieg likely didn’t anticipate that he would be handed the controller to a DJI Inspire 2 drone during a demonstration. He tweeted a short clip, which was then re-tweeted by the FAA’s Drone Zone account.
And that’s how it came to be that Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg flew a drone today:
The FAA was ahead of the game…
Not surprisingly, the FAA knew that Pete Buttigieg would be visiting the Academy today and took the opportunity to encourage people to learn a little more about it:
Very cool
Neat to watch Pete Buttigieg fly a drone. And yes, this area falls very much within his scope. From Wikipedia:
The secretary of transportation oversees the U.S. Department of Transportation, which has over 55,000 employees and thirteen agencies, including the Federal Aviation Administration, the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Railroad Administration, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
So he oversees the FAA, which — as you’re well aware — oversees the National Airspace and everything that flies in it (including drones).
Well done, Mr. Secretary!
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