FAA Partners With CNN, PrecisionHawk, BNSF to Expand UAS Use; Michael Huerta Comments

The Federal Aviation Administration has teamed up with PrecisionHawk, BNSF Railway and CNN to expand the use of unmanned aircraft systems for operations in populated, rural and remote areas.

The FAA will work with CNN to test if drones can be used in newsgathering activities in urban areas, the agency announced Wednesday at the Unmanned Systems 2015 conference in Atlanta.

PrecisionHawk will collaborate with the agency to evaluate the capability of drones in precision agricultural crop monitoring, while BNSF will assess the use of UAS in rail infrastructure inspection under the partnership.

“Even as we pursue our current rulemaking effort for small unmanned aircraft, we must continue to actively look for future ways to expand non-recreational UAS uses,” FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said.

“This new initiative involving three leading U.S. companies will help us anticipate and address the needs of the evolving UAS industry.”