TrainND Northwest is First to Secure FAA Waiver for BVLOS Drone Flights in North Dakota | Williston State College

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TrainND Northwest is First to Secure FAA Waiver for BVLOS Drone Flights in North Dakota

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TrainND Northwest is First to Secure FAA Waiver for BVLOS Drone Flights in North Dakota

Posted: Dec 02 2021

Williston, ND (KEYZ) TrainND Northwest in Williston marks another first last week in its efforts to provide cutting edge drone technology to the region.

“We have officially had our request for our Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) waiver approved by the FAA,” Regional Director for Technical Programs and Training Kenley Nebeker told News Radio Wednesday, December 1, 2021.

Nebeker says securing the waiver means a green-light to train those interested in flying drones beyond where the human eye can see.

“This waiver allows us to train people how to fly. It’s a very complex process, and there’s a lot that goes into it. Our first cohort will start on April 18th of next year.”

Not only is a BVLOS waiver “huge” for the forward movement of TrainND’s Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) efforts, it is a huge boon to business and industry applications throughout the region says Nebeker.

“Beyond Visual Line of Sight makes it possible for you, the average Joe, or anybody that wants to start a business or the oil and gas company that wants to inspect their pipeline or — million other use case scenarios — to be cost effective and to truly make a huge difference in how we live our lives using drone technology.”

Nebeker tells News Radio his goal for TrainND is to be the leader in training people in the BVLOS effort, and he says “[the] waiver allows us to truly perform these actions in a place and in an atmosphere where very, very few people are allowed to do that.”

As for this spring’s inaugural BVLOS program, Nebeker says there’s been a lot of interest especially among burgeoning entrepreneurs within families telling News Radio they’ve had inquiries from mother-son and husband-wife combinations wanting to get into the industry together. He adds there is still room in the upcoming class but that only nine seats are available this go-round.

Another exciting feature of the spring 2022 cohort, says Nebeker, is a partnership with industry whereby students who complete the four-week program will have the opportunity to land a paid internship starting to fly drones for package delivery in the Williston area.

To enroll in the spring 2022 BVLOS cohort or for more information on that program or any of TrainND Northwest’s offerings contact TrainND at 701-713-3780 or via the Williston State College website, https://willistonstate.edu/

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