The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is to allow multiple operators to fly commercial drones without visual observers within the same airspace in the Dallas area.
The administration has given authority to Zipline International and Wing Aviation to allow them to deliver packages, while keeping their drones safely separated using Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic Management (UTM) technology.
Under this system, the industry manages the airspace with rigorous FAA safety oversight.
Typical operations require the drone pilot to be able to see the aircraft at all times. According to the FAA, however, new advancements in air traffic technology and procedures are providing a key step towards making these Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) flights routine.
By using UTM services, companies can share data and planned flight routes with other authorized airspace users. This then allows the operators to safely organize and manage drone flights around each other in shared airspace.
All flights must take place below a 400 feet altitude and away from any crewed aircraft. The FAA expects initial flights using UTM services to begin in August 2024 and plans to issue further authorizations in the Dallas area soon.
This milestone in drone history comes as the FAA is working to release the Normalizing UAS BVLOS Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM). This would enable drone operators to expand operations while maintaining the same high level of safety as traditional aviation.
“We are on track to release the NPRM this year, following strong Congressional support in the recent FAA reauthorization,” the administration said in a statement.
