NASA and FAA consider safe integration of public safety UAS with commercial drone activity

The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) recently gathered representatives from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), police and fire departments, and commercial industry to discuss beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operations for public safety drones. As the FAA works to authorise these types of flights, NASA is helping ensure the operations are safe and efficient.  

Researchers need to figure out how these BVLOS public safety missions, such as search-and-rescue, accident scene reconstruction, and situational awareness during fires and other emergencies, can operate safely in airspace shared with other drones. 

Hosted by NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, the meeting took place in Arlington, Texas City Hall. Attendees included members of the FAA, the Department of Homeland Security, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Arlington local police and fire departments, and representatives of the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. The group’s discussion included the special considerations needed for public safety BVLOS drone operations. The main challenge that arose during the meeting was the need to ensure that public safety drones have priority when operating in the same airspace with commercial drones. 

NASA researchers provided feedback from this session to the FAA, commercial drone operators, and service providers. Input from the public safety meeting will support the FAA’s evaluation of commercial BVLOS drone flights, which the agency is currently conducting in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Data from these operations will inform FAA rulemaking. 

NASA’s work is led by its Uncrewed Aircraft Systems Traffic Management System BVLOS effort, which falls under the Air Traffic Management Exploration project.