Aircraft Being Evaluated In The Western U.S. For Public Safety Use

The U.S. Forest Service is exploring the use of UAVs to track how wildfires spread and identify hotspots using infrared cameras, all in an effort  to reduce risks to pilots, firefighters, and others on the ground in a fire's path. But the Forest Service says the FAA is severely limiting their ability do make those evaluations.

According to current FARs, UAVs may not operate out of sight of a ground-based pilot. That's difficult in situations where smoke severely reduces visibility, and so a piloted aircraft must be dispatched to watch the drone. 

According to a story in the New York Times, the Forest Service says that UAVs were used successfully help track a wildfire in Alaska nearly four years ago that generated so much thick smoke that manned flights were prohibited. A University of Fairbanks UAV was used to help track where the fire was heading, and where it was generating the most heat. But getting permission for that flight took four days. The fire eventually burned nearly half a million acres. Kent Slaughter, the acting manager of the Bureau of Land Management’s Alaska Fire Service, now says the process takes about 24 hours.

Alaska Senator Mark Begich (D) has called the delays in getting approval for testing and evaluation "frustrating," but the FAA says that safety both in the air and on the ground is the agency's primary consideration.

(U.S. Forest Service photo)

FMI: www.fs.fed.us, www.faa.gov