Saturday, August 02, 2014

Henry County, Indiana: Drone to remain grounded until approved by Federal Aviation Administration

A local drone will remain grounded until its use is approved by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Ron Huffman, director of Henry County Emergency Management, said the aircraft is not a drone, but a quad copter. The copter weighs less than three pounds and has a one-fourth mile photographic range. It cost $1,300 and was purchased with EMA donations.

Preliminary paperwork has been submitted to the FAA stating Henry County EMA is a government entity, Huffman said. Once the FAA acknowledges that document, Henry County EMA can proceed with the application process to get the copter's use approved.

So far, the EMA office has not received any negative calls or emails regarding the copter, Huffman said during a phone interview Tuesday morning.

"I think by having our standard operating procedures online, it allowed people to understand that the entire purpose is to protect our responders and handle emergency situations," Huffman said. "If you don't have the equipment, you can't do good things with it."

If a true emergency situation were to arise before FAA approval was received, the copter could be used with approval from the Henry County Commissioners, Huffman said.

On July 1, Indiana added a new section to a law concerning unmanned aerial vehicles. According to the new section, 19. IC 35-33-5-9, law enforcement must have a search warrant to use the vehicle, except in certain circumstances.

Such circumstances would include the substantial likelihood of a terrorist attack, the need to conduct a search and rescue or recovery operation, the need to respond to a natural disaster or any other disaster, or the need to perform a geographical or environmental survey for a non-criminal justice purpose.

Huffman cited a recent instance in Wisconsin when such a helicopter was used to locate a missing 82-year-old man. The man was located in a bean field that would have taken people hours to search on foot, according a news article from nbc15.com.


- Source:   http://www.indianaeconomicdigest.net

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