The first delivery by drone in the US has been made successfully. Unfortunately for enthusiasts, the news has been overshadowed by other drone incidents involving guns and fire.
The delivery took place in Virginia under special approval from the Federal Aviation Authority. To be fair, it was more of a demonstration of the technology of commercial drone firm Flirtey that a genuinely practical delivery.
The drone made three trips to a rural clinic, each time carrying a payload of four medical packages weighing a total of 1.5kg. However, the journey was only actually a mile, taking the packages from a nearby airport. Their original departure point was a pharmacy 35 miles away, far too long a journey for the Flirtey drone.
Instead the journey from the pharmacy to the airport was handled by a Nasa craft, specifically a modified five-seater plane that can be remotely controlled to fly unmanned.
Using either vehicle for commercial deliveries is out of the question now, both because of FAA regulations and financial viability. Instead Flirtey is highlighting the test flight as an example of how drones could be used for emergency deliveries, for example to areas cut off by extreme weather.
While the FAA did approve this test, it very much does not approve of another recent flight. A YouTube video appears to show a drone that’s been modified to hold a semi-automatic handgun that was remotely fired mid-flight, albeit only a few feet off the ground. While it doesn’t seem the incident broke any state laws, the FAA is investigating if it breached any federal laws or aviation regulations.
Meanwhile fire officials in California have condemned the operators of five drones flown over the scene of a major fire on I-15 last weekend. It’s thought the drones were being used to capture amateur video of the incident, which saw 30 vehicles damaged or destroyed.
According to an official incident report, the position of at least one of the “hobby drones” meant helicopters used to spray water on the fire were at one stage grounded for up to 25 minutes for safety reasons, leading to more property destruction and increasing the risk to life.
(Image credit: Flirtey)