Insitu ScanEagle Conducts First Pathfinder Program Flight for BNSF Railway
Photo: Insitu.
Bingen, Washington, company Insitu announced that its ScanEagle unmanned aircraft system flew the first commercial beyond-visual-line-of-sight flight in the contiguous 48 states as a part of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Pathfinder Program.
The flight, which occurred on Oct. 25, was for BNSF Railway, one of the company’s the FAA is leveraging to hash out some of the more challenging issues in integrating unmanned aircraft into the National Airspace System. The first fight had the ScanEagle covering 64 miles of a 132-mile stretch of BNSF rail tracks. It is part of a week-long series of flight tests.
"Our Pathfinder project is expected to be a significant enhancement to the tremendous amount of data and information we already gather as part of our track inspection program," says Greg Fox, executive vice president for operations at BNSF Railway. "The capabilities these aircraft have to gather additional intelligence that can then be fed in real time to track inspectors on the ground will fundamentally enhance our program and the safety of our railroad while helping to keep our people safe in harsh and extreme conditions."
In 2013, ScanEagle ushered in the era of FAA-approved commercial drone flights in the United States on a mission for ConocoPhillips over Alaska’s Chukchi Sea.
The Pathfinder Program was announced in May at AUVSI’s Unmanned Systems 2015 in Atlanta.
In addition to BNSF, the program will also have CNN explore visual-line-of-sight flights in urban areas for newsgathering and drone data company PrecisionHawk test flying UAS beyond line of sight for agricultural applications.
