Flirtey Claims First Fully Autonomous, FAA-Approved Urban Drone Delivery in the U.S.
As the aerial drone industry comes under increasing scrutiny regarding safety issues, Flirtey reports that it has completed the first fully autonomous, FAA-approved urban drone delivery in the United States. In an uninhabited residential setting in Hawthorne, Nevada, the company delivered a package that included bottled water, emergency food and a first aid kit by drone. This comes after news earlier this month that Maersk Tankers conducted test delivery of cookies to vessels via drones that have been certified for explosive environments.
The delivery from Flirtey included the use of a six-rotor drone that flew itself along a pre-determined delivery route and lowered the package at a precise drop-off location. A Flirtey pilot and several visual observers were on standby during the delivery as a backup to the autonomous system, but were never needed.
The choice of water, food and a first aid kit illustrates Flirtey’s vision to reinvent the delivery process for humanitarian, online retail and food delivery industries.
The delivery follows a series of groundbreaking drone delivery “firsts” for Flirtey. The company conducted the first FAA-approved drone delivery last July — a series of urgent medical deliveries to a rural healthcare clinic.
Flirtey’s delivery was filmed for a 28-minute ABC-TV documentary called Foreign Correspondent which will air in mid April.