Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) developer American Aerospace Technologies Inc. (AATI) says it has received the an FAA exemption for commercial beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operations of a drone weighing more than 55 pounds and flying above 400 feet. The FAA tells FLYING the exemption is the first for a drone with those specifications that does not require human observers to directly monitor flights.
The approval covers commercial BVLOS flights of AATI’s fixed-wing AiRanger drone in San Joaquin Valley, California. AiRanger will conduct pipeline surveillance and inspections on behalf of AATI partner Chevron Pipe Line Company (CPL), a subsidiary of oil and gas titan Chevron, which has helped develop the aircraft since 2019.
