Dronekorridor etablert i New York - Curt Lewis

First part of unmanned drone corridor completed

 

SYRACUSE - The first part of a drone corridor that Oswego County will be part of in the future has been completed.

 

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Nov. 12 the completion of the state supported 50-mile unmanned traffic management drone corridor, which runs from Central New York to the Mohawk Valley. Cuomo said this first-in-the-nation corridor is the most advanced drone testing corridor in the nation.

 

This is phase one of the drone corridor project. Oswego County Airport Manager Brandon Schwerdt said the corridor is set to be expanded to the county airport in Volney in the future.

 

"Oswego County is part of phase two. I don't have an estimated date for phase two as Federal Aviation Administration approvals dictate the timing," he said. "It's coming later on."

 

The discussion of the 50-mile drone corridor and its expansion to Oswego County came up during a visit and drone demonstration at the Oswego County Airport in June 2018.

 

NUAIR (Northeast UAS Airspace Integration Research) Alliance, a company located at Griffiss International Airport in Rome, brought one of its unmanned devices to the airport to test the airspace. It was controlled by two NUAIR employees who flew it around and around at various altitudes while checking to see how the airspace handled the device.

 

Tony Basile, chief operating officer with NUAIR Alliance, said at that time that a drone could be flown from Griffiss to Volney while being followed and watched by a manned aircraft.

 

The next evolution of the unmanned adventure would be flying a drone from Griffiss to the Oswego County Airport with the device completely controlled by a person sitting in Rome.

 

Basile said in June 2018 that the goal of unmanned aircraft technology is to have full size aircraft that are unmanned and piloted by someone in another location. He said once this becomes possible, it wouldn't be farfetched to think of a company like FedEx landing unmanned aircraft at the Oswego County Airport and unloading packages for delivery.

 

"The industry is exploding," he said then. "I have experience with the airport, I like it there and its fits our (NUAIR) needs. And Oswego County officials have been pursuing this type of industry. The airport has a lot going for it."

 

Cuomo said with the needed infrastructure now in place, companies will be able to test both unmanned aerial systems platforms and UTM technologies in real world settings, generating data that will inform the industry and regulators and taking us one step closer towards the routine commercial use of drones.

 

The completion of the corridor advances the regions' collective strategy to accelerate and support emerging uses of UAS in key industries, including agriculture and forest management, transportation and logistics, media and film development, utilities and infrastructure and public safety.

 

"The completion of the 50-mile drone corridor is a groundbreaking achievement that caps a key strategy laid out in our CNY Rising plan to make Central New York and the Mohawk Valley a global center for UAS testing and innovation," Cuomo said.

 

Current FAA drone regulations require operators to keep their drones in line of sight unless they have approval from the FAA. To date, Northeast Unmanned Aircraft System Airspace Integration Research and the New York Unmanned Aircraft System Test Site have conducted over 2,500 test flights but required multiple people in the field to have a visual line of sight for the aircraft.

 

Cuomo said by receiving "True" Beyond Visual Line of Sight flight approval, the UAS Test Site will no longer require those observers in the field as NUAIR and the Test Site have proved to the FAA that the proper safety measures and technologies are in place to fly unmanned aircraft beyond line of sight safely.