Drone safety systems company, ParaZero Technologies Ltd announced the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had approved a first-ever waiver allowing general contractor, Hensel Phelps, to fly over people using ParaZero’s ASTM compliant SafeAir Phantom Parachute System.

Hensel Phelps is one of the largest general contractors in the United States and has been leading the industry in adoption of UAS technology for construction, said ParaZero.  The use of UAS benefits projects by helping teams enhance safety, improve efficiency, manage and monitor schedules and communicate logistics.  

Code of Federal Regulations 14, Part 107, defines the rules and requirements for operators of UAS (a.k.a. drones) for commercial purposes.  Section 107.39 restricts any UAS operations over human beings.  While necessary for safety reasons, this has been a major detriment to the growth of the commercial UAS industry as it has limited many operations in urban and suburban environments, ParaZero observed.

As part of the waiver approval process, the FAA used the information included in the waiver application to determine the system acceptably met ASTM F3322-18.  UAS operators that purchased the ParaZero SafeAir Phantom ASTM Professional Kit, received the documentation required to demonstrate the compliance of the system.

This waiver represents the first time the FAA has collaborated with industry in developing a publically available standard, worked with an applicant to ensure the testing and data collected acceptably met the standard, and issued a waiver using an industry standard as a basis to determine that a proposed sUAS [small UAS] operation can be safely conducted under the terms and conditions of a waiver under Part 107, said ParaZero.

According to the FAA: This process is scalable and available to other applicants who propose to use the same drone and parachute combination. The FAA will require each applicant to provide the testing, documentation, and statement of compliance listed in ASTM3322-18 in their applications using the same drone and parachute combination.

“The FAA has demonstrated a truly collaborative approach, through which they help develop the ASTM standard, work together in the UASIPP and provide feedback on the waiver applications and documentation. “said Avi Lozowick, ParaZero’s vice president of policy and strategy.

“Safety is a core value at Hensel Phelps,” commented Richard Lopez, national UAS operations executive for Hensel Phelps.  “Utilizing UAS, equipped with ParaZero’s SafeAir Systems, on our job sites allows us to operate more efficiently and accurately and we are committed to leveraging this technology as safely as possible.”

ParaZero CEO, Eden Attias comments: “The approval of this waiver is the goal ParaZero has been striving to achieve for the past two years.  A replicable process is key to enable the growth of the UAS industry.”