Amazon caught testing delivery drones in Canada

The presence of the Canadian testing program, which is being done in a secret location in British Columbia, was revealed in a 30 March, 2015 report by The Guardian, cited by eweek.com. Amazon is keeping the location of the testing in Canada very quiet, but a team of roboticists, software engineers, aeronautics experts and pioneers in remote sensing are there and are moving the experiments forward.

The testing work in Canada is being done to try out ideas and concepts for future drone package delivery services by Amazon. By testing in Canada, Amazon is able to do experiments that it has not been able to do in the US due to concerns from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which is concerned about allowing drones to share airspace with US commercial and private aircraft traffic without plenty of reviews, analysis and caution. To Amazon, the FAA is perhaps holding up innovation and being too conservative. To the agency, Amazon perhaps wants to jump ahead without enough caution and planning.

Earlier in March, 2015 the FAA issued an Experimental Airworthiness Certificate (EAC) to Amazon so that the online retailer could do more experiments with its drone delivery proposals, but a company spokesman quickly criticized the permit as being too little, too late. Instead of being thrilled by the FAA certificate, Paul Misener, Amazons vice president for global public policy, told a US Senate subcommittee that more needs to be done to help US retailers catch up to similar drone delivery experiments under way elsewhere around the world, according to an earlier eWEEK report.

Amazon has recently asked the FAA for permission to fly one of the companys UASes in the US, and the company hopes that approval request will be issued more quickly. The EAC, issued by the FAA, permits Amazons Logistics division to experiment with unmanned aircraft systems that Amazon will use for research and development and crew training, according to the FAA.

The EAC sets rules for the drone experiments, including provisions that all flight operations must be conducted at 400 feet or below during daylight hours in good weather and that the drones must always remain within visual line-of-sight of the pilot and observer. In addition, the drone experiments under the certificate must be flown by a pilot who has a minimum of a private pilots certificate and current medical certification, the FAA stated.