Northern Plains granted flight upgrade
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has granted the Northern Plains UAS test site in North Dakota authorisation to fly large UAVs beyond-line-of-sight (BLOS), starting with the MQ-1 Predator (pictured).
Granted on 1 January, the Certificate of Waiver or Authorization (COA) will allow BLOS testing to be carried out using medium- and high-altitude, long-endurance UAVs, under the control of air traffic control radar.
Currently this kind of testing requires a chase aircraft to be flown alongside the UAV, but eventually the new permission will allow UAS such as the Predator to be flown unescorted.
‘Operators need to have an authorisation
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