First to Deploy
First to Deploy: Unmanned Aircraft for Search and Rescue and Law Enforcement, by Gene Robinson.
Deployment of UA Vehicles to Texas under and Emergency COA
This paper documents the emergency deployment of National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) UAV assets to address a specific request by a local government in Texas. On Wednesday, 10 September 2014, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) granted
an Emergency Certificate of Waiver or Authorization (E-COA) to NIST to utilize an Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) in the search for a missing person near Plano, Texas, just north of Dallas. The FAA processed this request and granted the Emergency COA in less than 24 hours. This was the first event for which the FAA granted permission for NIST UAVs to be flown for purposes other than fire research.
Obstacles to Deployment of Civilian Unmanned Aerial Systems in the U.S. National Airspace in Disaster Situations
The most common obstacles to insertion and use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) into disaster situations in the national airspace (NAS) are varied and many. Disaster situations, for the purpose of this report, include natural disasters (fire, flood, weather driven emergencies, earthquakes, etc.) and man-made disasters (chemical or other agent spills, transit disasters, infrastructure failure, domestic terrorism, etc.) To clarify, UAS have many monikers, i.e., unmanned aircraft (UA), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), remotely piloted aerial systems (RPAS), or “drones” as commonly referenced by the general public.
Concept of Operations Unmanned Aircraft Usage for Evidence Recovery
On May 27th of 2009 a Continental ExpressJet flight departed Bush International airport in Houston, Texas and began its’ eastbound climb to cruising altitude. At 13,000 feet the pilot saw what he be- lieved to be a rocket arcing over into the path of the commuter airplane. The “rocket” passed an esti- mated 150 feet beneath the aircraft.
Using Unmanned Aerial Systems During a Natural Disaster in Texas
The 2015 Texas Memorial Day Floods are now being labeled a “millennial flood”; they surpassed the standard of what would be considered the severest flood that could occur in a 500-year span.