CNN is among the companies partnering with the Federal Aviation Administration on a new program to research how drones can be used more broadly.
As one of the partners in the FAA’s new Pathfinder program, Atlanta-based CNN will research how unmanned aircraft can be used for news-gathering in urban areas, according to an announcement by FAA administrator Michael Huerta on Wednesday at an Unmanned Systems conference in Atlanta. The FAA is also partnering with Raleigh-based PrecisionHawk on crop surveying and with Fort Worth-based BNSF Railroad on railroad inspections with drones as part of the Pathfinder program.
The Pathfinder announcement comes after CNN in January announced an agreement with the FAA to use drones for news-gathering purposes.
CNN senior vice president of legal David Vigilante said the network will ” get to work and really dive in to see what is possible.”
“What we’re trying to do is push the envelope,” Huerta said. “I realize everyone wants to get there. The important thing is how do we get there safely.”
The FAA also announced Wednesday it plans to launch a new app that can tell recreational drone users or model aircraft hobbyists when and where it is safe to fly.
The app, called B4UFLY, will launch for a limited number of beta users this summer before a full version is released later this year. It will be able to tell recreational drone fliers if there are any airspace restrictions where they want to fly, and will also notify users of requirements in the area such as the need to notify a nearby airport or control tower when flying within 5 miles of the airport.
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