US: FAA allows UPS to deliver medical packages using drones

UPS announced this week that it had received a certification from the FAA to use drones to deliver medical packages at campuses across the country. The certification will allow UPS to use multiple drones to deliver health care supplies within federal regulations and to fly drones beyond the visual line of sight, according to a statement from the FAA. For the past year, UPS has been collaborating with the FAA flying drones at the WakeMed campus in Raleigh, N.C., delivering medical packages — including blood samples and tissues — to different buildings on the property, according to Scott Price, the chief strategy and transformation officer at UPS. During its yearlong trial period, he said, UPS flew about 1,000 single-operator drone flights at the WakeMed campus. While UPS’s drone airline, UPS Flight Forward, is currently limited by the certification to operating on medical campuses for the next couple of years, the company hopes to expand after that. “This is the first step to being able to enable deliveries to homes and rural areas,” Price said Wednesday. The FAA certification for UPS’s drone airline comes at a time when the US is making a push to remain at the forefront of unmanned aviation, the agency said. “This is a big step forward in safely integrating unmanned aircraft systems into our airspace,” said Elaine L. Chao, the United States secretary of transportation.<br/>