Amazon said it has worked for years to develop and refine its “detect-and-avoid technology” to allow pilots to operate the drone remotely, while avoiding any obstacles in the air, our colleague Sarah Fortinsky reported.
To obtain FAA approval, Amazon conducted flight demonstrations for FAA inspectors “to show our system works in real-world scenarios.”
“We flew in the presence of real planes, helicopters, and a hot air balloon to demonstrate how the drone safely navigated away from each of them,” the company said.
The FAA requires commercial drone operators to physically be able to see the drones as they operate them, unless they have developed BVLOS technology ensuring a remote pilot can operate the device safely.
The approval allows Amazon to “immediately” broaden its delivery area in College Station, Texas, one of the company’s initial test sites launched in 2022. It also clears the way for Amazon to launch drone deliveries to the West Valley of the Phoenix area in Arizona later this year.
“Our vision has remained unchanged since we started working on Prime Air: to create a safe and scalable way to deliver packages to customers in 30 minutes or less using highly autonomous drones,” the announcement Thursday read.
Read more in a full report at TheHill.com.
