Oswego City Police receive BVLOS drone approval
The police department, in the US state of New York, has received approval for drone operations beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS)
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has granted approval to Oswego City Police Department for BVLOS operations without visual observers, using uAvionix’s Casia G ground-based detect-and-avoid (DAA) system.
This approval will allow the city’s police department to operate drones as a first response to emergency calls – offering better situational awareness, faster response times, and greater safety for police officers and the public.
Jon Damush, CEO of uAvionix, said that his company hopes that the approval will “pave the way for the widespread adoption of ‘drone as first responder’ programs across the US”, and that it expects “future approvals for police, emergency medical services, and fire departments adopting the same approach”.
uAvionix previously received a contract from the FAA to develop a hybrid command-and-control link for drones in partnership with the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Oliver Cuenca
Oliver Cuenca is a Junior Editor at AirMed&Rescue. He was previously a News and Features Journalist for the rail magazine IRJ until 2021, and studied MA Magazine Journalism at Cardiff University. His favourite helicopter is the AW169 – the workhorse of the UK air ambulance sector! He also led the creation of Waypoint: The AirMed&Rescue podcast, serving as its Production Editor and co-host.