NCDOT wins second FAA BVLOS remote drone inspection waiver

The North Carolina Department of Transport (NCDOT) has earned its second Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) waiver to operate routine drone inspection missions in beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) mode, and will use that with craft from docked stations it plans to deploy near construction sites around the state.

NCDOT said the additional FAA authorization will facilitate continual, and when necessary rapidly organized drone inspections by remotely located operators of new and existing state transport assets undergoing work. Greater flexibility gained by BVLOS flights, it noted, meant the administration can deploy docked stations at locations to keep craft ready for use at virtually any time, allowing pilots to conduct monitoring missions whenever supervisors require insight into evolving projects.

Read: Congress tables (yet another) bill affecting drones – this one via FAA BVLOS rule deadlines

Becca Gallas, NCDOT’s Division of Aviation director, said the FAA’s latest BVLOS waiver eliminates the burden of specialized drone teams having to travel to what can be far-flung locations to transport and observe craft for inspection flights.

“This FAA waiver allows us to monitor project sites from anywhere, anytime, without the need for drone pilots to drive to sites and set up drone systems to capture and stream images,” said Gallas. “That will save time and money and increase the safety of our employees by removing the risk associated with this fieldwork.”

That newly granted FAA waiver for BVLOS drone flights is the second NCDOT has received. 

The first came in 2020 when the agency obtained what it said was a precedent setting FAA authorization to conduct UAV inspections of bridges by remotely located pilots. Then as now, the North Carolina agency uses Skydio 2 docked solutions, whose automation and artificial intelligence enhancements have continued improving over time.

Read more: FAA approves statewide BVLOS flights for Skydio 2, NCDOT

The combination of the new FAA BVLOS approval, and updated capabilities of those docked drone stations deployed at NCDOT worksites state-wide, means agency operators can carry out inspection flights at virtually any time, and largely sit back and let the tech perform its magic while that’s happening. 

As they do so, Gallas says NCDOT will share insights it garners to the FAA’s BEYOND program as one of the 18 partners in that initiative.

“This is a new tool for our toolkit,” Gallas said. “Our pilot program will serve as an example of the transformative potential of remote drone operations, ensuring the continued advancement of our state’s infrastructure projects.”