First Responders Crafting Real-Life Scenarios On The Vacant Land

A former airport in Tulsa that has been abandoned for years is now being used by the Osage Nation for training drone pilots.

Television station KTUL reports that first responders were on the property Tuesday to culminate a 100-hour training course put on by Drone Pilots Inc. The drone pilots were used their aircraft to locate a "suspect" who had ditcher her car and fled authorities.

The property is no longer viable as an airport for manned aircraft, but the Osage Nation saw it as being ideal for drone training. It is only five miles from downtown Tulsa, but still far enough away from Tulsa International Airport to allow the training to take place without waivers from the FAA.

Eventually, the nation hopes that a full innovation park can be built on the site. Assistant Principal Chief Raymond Red Corn told KTUL that the zone would "accommodate education, industry, light manufacturing and other activities that are very conducive to having an innovation zone and bringing much-needed jobs to this area.”

(Image from file)

FMI: Original report