Drone data-gathering company Phoenix Air Unmanned (PAU) has received a nation-wide waiver from the Federal Aviation Administration to use Flyfree’s Alta X UAVs during beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) powerline infrastructure inspection missions for clients.
PAU said the FAA waiver allows it to perform BVLOS infrastructure inspections with Flyfree Alta X drones anywhere in the US, including operations over people and moving vehicles. The company secured the authorization following submission of what it called a robust safety case outlining use of electronic airspace surveillance, establishment of clear and defined operating areas, and performance criteria justifying the safety of its BVLOS track record.
Cartersville, GA-based PAU says it previously conducted thousands of miles of BVLOS transmission line drone inspections using more limited FAA waivers. Under those, the company last August reported it had passed the 13,000 mark for BVLOS missions, following a phase in its long-running aerial inspections of Xcel Energy infrastructure.
Read: Drone services group PAU passes 13,000 BVLOS inspection flights
William Wheeler, PAU’s director of operations, described its FAA BVLOS waiver as significant in not only covering the entire US, but also for excluding some conditions the agency can impose on otherwise open-ended authorizations.
“Many issued BVLOS waivers require visual observers throughout the route of flight – adding cost and complexity, Wheeler noted. “This authorization lists electronic airspace surveillance as an alternative risk mitigation. To build the operation we selected key partners with a track record of reliability and aviation experience.”
In addition to using the FAA waiver with its fleet of Flyfree Alta X drones, PAU says it has partnered with Canadian navigation and airspace awareness and safety group Kongsberg Geospatial for BVLOS flights.
As part of that, PAU will rely on the IRIS Terminal developed by Kongsberg Geospatial to provide its UAV operators with real-time BVLOS airspace visibility during drone infrastructure inspection work.
Read: InDro earns FAA BVLOS waiver for US drone inspections – ‘a Canadian first’
IRIS Terminals, Wheeler says, provide visual data of “ownship tracks and cooperative and non-cooperative aircraft tracks all on the same pane of glass, (and are) located inside our mobile monitoring stations.”
PAU initially obtained an FAA BVLOS waiver excluding human monitors in 2019 for drone inspections of Xcel Energy powerline infrastructure – a two-year permit that was eventually extended an additional 24 months.
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