FORT MYERS, Fla. -- USDOT is moving forward with plans to integrate drone operations into select state, local , and tribal governments, including one in Fort Myers.
The Lee County Mosquito Control District is one of only 10 selected agencies participating in the program.
The Unmanned Aircraft System Integration Pilot Program was first announced last October, and is focused on helping tackle the most significant challenges to integrating drones into the national airspace and will reduce risks to public safety and security.
USDOT and its Federal Aviation Administration carefully evaluated each of the 149 proposals they received, and the 10 final selectees will now work with the FAA to refine their operational concepts through Memorandums of Agreement.
The MOAs will establish the parties’ responsibilities, describe specific concepts of operations they will undertake, establish any data-sharing requirements, and specify that no federal funds will be spent on the program.
Over the next two and a half years, the selectees will collect drone data involving night operations, flights over people and beyond the pilot’s line of sight, package delivery, detect-and-avoid technologies and the reliability and security of data links between pilot and aircraft.
The 10 selectees are:
- Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Durant, OK
- City of San Diego, CA
- Virginia Tech - Center for Innovative Technology, Herndon, VA
- Kansas Department of Transportation, Topeka, KS
- Lee County Mosquito Control District, Ft. Myers, FL
- Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority, Memphis, TN
- North Carolina Department of Transportation, Raleigh, NC
- North Dakota Department of Transportation, Bismarck, ND
- City of Reno, NV
- University of Alaska-Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK
