Successful medical drone trial in Michigan
The West Michigan Drone Delivery MMFP [Michigan Mobility Funding Program] pilot project has completed a series of trial medical delivery flights
The flights were conducted by Drone Delivery Canada (DDC) and Workhorse Aero, who successfully demonstrated the delivery of medical products to the Holland, Michigan-based Caduceus Medical Logistics.
The initiative aimed to demonstrate the viability and efficiency of using drone deliveries for medical supplies – comparing a flight route of 1.1km with a 1.9km traditional ground-based route. A total of 23 deliveries were conducted over the course of two days.
Other operational and community partners for the project included Airspace Link, West Michigan Regional Airport, Michigan Economic Development Corporation, the Michigan Office of Future Mobility and Electrification, Next Energy, and Lakeshore Advantage.
The project utilized Airspace Link’s AirHub Portal digital infrastructure platform to ‘generate a comprehensive analysis for ground and air risks within the city of Holland, and in other areas of operation.
“We are grateful for the collaboration with our operational and community partners, as well as the support from regulatory bodies, which has made this achievement possible,” said Steve Magirias, CEO, Drone Delivery Canada. “I also want to commend our DDC operators that received their US Part 107 certification in support of this effort.”
Rick Dauch, CEO of Workhorse Aero added: “We appreciate the opportunity to demonstrate [our] significant capabilities for package delivery with our partners in Michigan.”
DDC also received Transport Canada approval to transport medical radioisotopes by drone in Southern Ontario in June.
Oliver Cuenca
Oliver Cuenca was a Junior Editor at the Voyageur Group. 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.