Unmanned aircraft are inspecting roadways, checking railroad tracks, assessing the condition of power lines.<\/h2>\n

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Houston USA (WSJ) –<\/strong>For drone users, Hurricane Harvey is likely to be the event that propelled unmanned aircraft to become an integral part of the government and corporate disaster-recovery efforts.<\/p>\n

In the first six days after the storm hit, the Federal Aviation Administration issued more than 40 separate authorizations for emergency drone activities above\u00a0flood-ravaged Houston\u00a0and surrounding areas. They ranged from inspecting roadways to checking railroad tracks to assessing the condition of water plants, oil refineries and power lines.<\/p>\n

That total climbed above 70 last Friday and topped 100 on Sunday, including some flights prohibited under routine circumstances, according to people familiar with the details. Industry officials said\u00a0all of the operations\u2014except for a handful flown by media outlets\u2014were conducted in conjunction with, or on behalf of, local, state or federal agencies.<\/p>\n

One person familiar with the details said certain applications were processed within hours, an unusually fast turnaround for federal safety regulators accustomed to days or weeks of analysis for such decisions.<\/div>\n

The scope and pace of approvals\u2014advocated by drone proponents as essential tools to help search and recovery teams during natural emergencies\u2014likely will boost momentum for longer-term industry and congressional drives to open up more airspace for broader commercial applications.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re being used in a lot of different ways we\u2019ve been talking about for a long time,\u201d said Brian Wynne, president of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, the leading trade group.<\/p>\n

Now that recovery efforts are under way, Mr. Wynne said relying on drones can help a\u00a0wide range of industries\u00a0pinpoint and repair damage, adding that \u201cit\u2019s in everybody\u2019s interest that they get up and running\u201d as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n

Before the devastation throughout southern Texas, lawmakers and trade groups representing drone manufacturers specifically urged the FAA to adopt policies providing swift regulatory exemptions in the event of emergency applications.<\/p>\n

Since the FAA began clearing the way for unmanned aircraft around Houston, people familiar with the details said at least one company has received the green light to survey coastal damage using drones operating beyond the sight of ground-based pilots. Such flying techniques are strictly banned under normal rules governing commercial operations.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, a FAA spokeswoman said she didn\u2019t have a detailed breakdown of the latest authorization totals.<\/p>\n

To reduce delays and bureaucratic processes, the FAA has issued some single, blanket authorizations to fly different types of drones\u00a0for various missions\u00a0across the same designated airspace.<\/p>\n

Despite FAA flexibility, drone industry groups have called for further easing of rules. A trade association called the Small UAV Coalition on Friday said some of its members already are helping \u201censure continuous communication capabilities for first responders and the public.\u201d But unmanned aircraft also have \u201cimmense potential\u201d to assist help with \u201cdelivering food, water and medical supplies,\u201d the group said.<\/p>\n

From the outset, several large property insurers enlisted drones in trying to quickly estimate damage and anticipate claims. Dozens of drones making thousands of weekly flights are expected to be part of the strategy.<\/p>\n

To protect the multitude of government helicopters and manned aircraft that initially responded as Hurricane Harvey pummeled large chunks of the state, the FAA slapped a temporary but extensive no-fly zone over Houston. All drone operations were prohibited without specific FAA approval, and the FAA explicitly warned that \u201cflying an unauthorized drone could interfere\u201d with official rescue and recovery efforts. Operators \u201ccould be subject to significant fines if (they) interfere with emergency response\u201d functions, the agency said.<\/p>\n

But as the hurricane dumped historic amounts of rain, lingered over Texas and Louisiana and the extent of recovery needs grew, agency officials accelerated case-by-case approvals to drone operators for storm-related flights. That occurred while the FAA continued to receive numerous new requests from drone users.<\/p>\n

Now, even with temporary flight restrictions lifted or slated be eased, drone flights to assist the recovery still require advance FAA approvals over much of Houston. That\u2019s\u00a0because as before, large swaths of airspace are reserved for traffic in and out of the region\u2019s two primary commercial airports.<\/p>\n

Long\u00a0before Harvey made landfall, FAA rule making regarding drones was stalled as a result of White House directives effectively pausing major new rules governmentwide. Before the November 2016 elections, the agency had solicited and analyzed public comments and was on track to issue long-awaited rules covering drone flights over populated areas by January 2017. Now, that schedule has been scrubbed and the U.S. Department of Transportation website doesn\u2019t show a projected date for the release of a final rule.<\/p>\n

Still, FAA officials are pushing ahead with preparations\u2014including finalizing recommendations from joint federal-industry advisory committees\u2014aimed at proposing additional rules in the future. Mr. Wynne said one such group is about to issue a report about ways to identify and keep track of drones to ensure they keep out of restricted areas.<\/p>\n

The House is considering a 2018 FAA reauthorization bill that, among other things, calls for putting in place consensus safety standards for drone designs developed by industry representatives. The legislation also calls for further study of local and state governmental authorities to oversee drone operations under certain scenarios.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unmanned aircraft are inspecting roadways, checking railroad tracks, assessing the condition of power lines.   Houston USA (WSJ) –For drone users, Hurricane Harvey is likely to be the event that propelled unmanned aircraft to become an integral part of the government and corporate disaster-recovery efforts. In the first six days after the storm hit, the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3315,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,4,29,26,47],"tags":[38,41,73],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/moovafrica.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3314"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/moovafrica.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/moovafrica.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/moovafrica.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/moovafrica.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3314"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/moovafrica.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3314\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3318,"href":"http:\/\/moovafrica.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3314\/revisions\/3318"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/moovafrica.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/moovafrica.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/moovafrica.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/moovafrica.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}