Tuesday, February 5, 2019

Public encouraged to take survey on statewide UAS usage



The Kansas Department of Transportation’s (KDOT) Division of Aviation is seeking public opinion on the use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) or drones in Kansas airspace.

Individuals of all ages, occupations and backgrounds are encouraged to participate in the 10-question online survey available at https://www.ippkansas.org/ks-uas-ipp-survey until Feb. 28. 

Through the survey, KDOT hopes to gain a better understanding of the public’s familiarity and opinion on UAS use scenarios to drive operations for the Kansas UAS Integration Pilot Program (IPP).

This federally-initiated program will help tackle the most significant challenges to integrating drones into the national airspace and will reduce risks to public safety and security. The Kansas team is focused on efforts in Long Line Linear Infrastructure Inspection (i.e. highways, railroads, energy distribution lines, etc.) and Precision Agriculture. IPP partners include state universities, Kansas UAS joint task force members and industry leaders. For a full list visit: www.ippkansas.org/partners.

KDOT is currently conducting UAS test flights in the airspace north of Gypsum and over partner right-of-way infrastructure and partner-owned land. These operations will support a Phase II safety case that will include Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations.

About Kansas UAS IPP
KDOT is one of only 10 national leaders conducting advanced UAS operations to guide future rule-making that will result in access to new technologies for the nation. The IPP is the result of a 2017 Presidential Memorandum issued to the U.S. Department of Transportation.  

1 comment:

  1. As a private pilot I hear and take note of the stories of close-calls that aircraft are having with drones. I would highly support laws making drone flights near airports illegal, and changes in drone technology where a drone can't fly without there being a record of who's it is, ie, operated by a remote device with internet connection so that there is a record of who it is. Or something like that.

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