FAA Approves Drones Flying Out of Sight to Check Railroad Tracks

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has approved a large-scale waiver for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) to use drones to fly beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS), allowing it to fly uncrewed aircraft over the state’s rail network for inspections. 

MassDOT’s Drone Operations Program uses drones to collect data on more than 1,000 miles of track when monitoring rail safety by checking for everything from flood and storm damage to vegetation encroachment.

The agency’s Aeronautics department partnered with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) and the MITRE Corp to take what it calls a “blended performance-based approach, providing flexibility to adjust operations according to variations in factors such as geography, urban density or airspace.”

While remote drone operators will rely on a visual observer for higher altitude flights at more than 50 feet and as high as 400 feet above obstructions, the BVLOS will be used for drone flights 50 feet above rail lines or up to 50 feet above obstructions, the agency said. 

“MassDOT Aeronautics has received a special obstruction shielding waiver, with which drones can fly BVLOS without the need for visual observers,” MassDOT said. “This blended, flexible approach to operations will allow MassDOT Aeronautics to perform its mission more efficiently across a variety of landscapes with rail lines.”

Related:Michigan to Boost Drone Development Through New Initiative

Scott Uebelhart, chief scientist of MassDOT’s Aeronautics Advanced Aviation Technologies Group’s chief scientist said the waiver also lays the groundwork for “sensor systems and data solutions that will integrate drones and Advanced Air Mobility passenger vehicles such as electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft into ‘highways in the sky.’”