FAA Commercial UAS Exemptions up to 29
Viafield was approved to use the senseFly ebee UAS, pictured here. Photo: senseFly.
This week the FAA granted three more commercial unmanned aircraft systems exemptions to Viafield, Blue-Chip Unmanned Aerial Solutions and Asymmetric Technologies bringing the total number of exemptions to 29.
Viafield was approved to use the senseFly eBee UAS for precision agriculture on Monday becoming the fourth company approved to perform unmanned agricultural surveys in the national airspace.
Blue-Chip was approved on Tuesday to use a Sensurion Magpie MP-1 UAS to support agriculture, oil and gas, aerial photography and wildlife preservation industries.
Asymmetric Technologies was granted an exemption to conduct infrastructure inspections of bridges on Tuesday as well. Using UAS will significantly improve the safety of these aerial inspections and reduce the cost and time associated with these essential safety measures. It will also not be necessary to close a lane on the bridge during operations thereby improving traffic flow.
“We are proud to be the first company approved by the FAA to help the bridge inspection industry improve safety and protect the environment through the use of UAV technology,” says Asymmetric President and CEO Brian Borkowski. “Our experience as military and commercial pilots combined with our commitment to safety make us the right team to take this important first step for the industry.”
As with other exemptions the companies must only operate within line of sight with an observer and pilot that has a private pilot’s license and medical certificate.
All three companies applied for exemption in early October 2014 and the current grants are good for just over two years.
