Based on a recent press release, Amazon wants drones-only airways to deliver products, which should feature narrow bands at low altitude. The FAA is making all this possible by slightly relaxing the rules for commercial drone flights, the e-retailers informed on early Wednesday morning.
Amazon has paid attention to the recent changes that the Federal Aviation Administration has made and is now suggesting the administration to introduce special drones-only airways to prevent possible incidents with other flying machines.
Based on FAA’s regulations, drones cannot fly higher than 400 feet and they cannot go beyond the pilot’s sight line in order to stay safe at all times. Drones have to be operated at at least five miles away from an airport because they could, otherwise crash into commercial airplanes.
Amazon thinks this legal background represents a good starting point, but there are other rules that should also be taken into consideration. They are particularly interested in measures concerning long-range drones as they plan to use them for the delivery of their products.
The commercial retailer’s faster drones are said to fly at 200 and 400 feet, whereas the regular, short-distance drones only operate at a maximum height of 200 feet. This difference is, according to Amazon, extremely important when elaborating the new highways because it allows the FAA to adopt stricter rules for the faster drones.
The delimitation of unique air bands for drones is not the only measure that the FAA would have to impose in order to make drone-based delivery possible. The retailer believes every drone should have an UAV flight plan, which should be submitted and analyzed by authorities. This procedure is specific for commercial airplanes, but Amazon believes it should be used for drones, too, for increased safety.
A reliable internet connection must be provided on the drones because pilots have to be able to command the flying machines at all times, but particularly during emergencies. This way, pilots can keep the drones from flying into houses, trees and other similar obstacles.
Before drone-based delivery gets universally implemented by Amazon, the online sales giant wants to create a command center where flight plans are carefully organized and monitored.
According to Amazon’s VP of drone delivery, Gur Kimchi, the project is not at all as difficult as it may seem. On the contrary, the majority of these regulations have been inspired from FAA’s instructions for commercial flights, so the project is “completely doable,” the VP has concluded.
Image source: wsj.net
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.