Press Release  Massachusetts Department of Transportation Secures Large-Scale Waiver from Feds Allowing Drones to Fly “Beyond Visual Line of Sight”

Boston — The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) Aeronautics Division a wide-ranging drone waiver, granting MassDOT permission to fly uncrewed aircraft over the state’s entire rail network, “Beyond Visual Line of Sight” (BVLOS), or outside the remote drone operators’ fields of vision. The waiver enables MassDOT’s Drone Operations Program to more efficiently collect data on more than 1,000 miles of track when monitoring for impediments such as vegetation encroachment, flooding, or storm damage, further increasing rail safety. 

To assist the MBTA with vegetation and storm management, the Drone Operations Program has already collected baseline imagery and data on the condition of rail tracks by flying over the MBTA rail corridors. 

Before granting the waiver, the FAA reviewed a rigorous safety evaluation that MassDOT Aeronautics had performed. This evaluation builds upon a previous narrower dispensation from the FAA allowing MassDOT to fly drones, “Beyond Visual Line of Sight,” over the MBTA’s Fitchburg Commuter Rail Line, including through “controlled airspace” managed by air traffic control. 

“We are grateful for the collaboration with our federal partners that has allowed MassDOT Aeronautics to adopt this drone waiver to fly BVLOS over our state rail lines,” said Transportation Secretary and CEO Monica Tibbits-Nutt. “Safety is a priority of MassDOT and the MBTA and this waiver will help us inspect our state rails more often while also doing so more safely.” 

“Our latest BVLOS waiver not only marks a quantum leap for infrastructure inspection services in Massachusetts but provides a model for all states to inspect a variety of infrastructure more rapidly, accurately, and comprehensively,” said MassDOT Aeronautics Administrator Jeff DeCarlo. “This waiver also allows us to explore critical new ways to improve the state’s operations, from airspace monitoring to medical emergency response.” 

“The MBTA has been working closely with the MassDOT Aeronautics Drone Operations Program for several years,” said MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng. “By greatly facilitating long-distance drone operations, this BVLOS waiver represents a game-changer for rail data collection, analysis, and safety.” 

“We’re thrilled that MassDOT Aeronautics can leverage the latest technology to accelerate our infrastructure data collection process, which has typically been slow and labor intensive,” said MassDOT Rail & Transit Administrator Meredith Slesinger. “This allows us to expedite and improve the analysis of rail corridor conditions that impact safety, such as erosion, culvert obstructions, and storm damage, including in difficult-to-access rail corridors across our railroad network.” 

MassDOT Aeronautics partnered with the MBTA and MITRE Corporation to devise a unique “blended” performance-based approach, providing flexibility to adjust operations according to variations in factors such as geography, urban density, or airspace. For higher altitude flights, at over 50 feet and as high as 400 feet above obstructions, remote drone operators will rely on a visual observer to ensure safe separation between the drones and crewed aircraft. However, for drone flights up to 50 feet above rail lines or up to 50 feet above obstructions, MassDOT Aeronautics has received a special “obstruction shielding” waiver, with which drones can fly BVLOS without the need for visual observers. This blended, flexible approach to operations will allow MassDOT Aeronautics to perform its mission more efficiently across a variety of landscapes with rail lines.   

To identify and implement innovative drone technologies and air operations, the MassDOT Aeronautics’ Commonwealth UAS Integration Program (CUIP) is developing the state-wide BVLOS rail initiative with the support of Massachusetts-based organizations including MITRE, the U.S. Department of Transportation Volpe Center, and MIT Lincoln Laboratory. CUIP works to expand the use of drones to improve the safety, efficiency, and effectiveness of transportation services across MassDOT, the MBTA, and other state agencies. 

“By enabling state-wide Beyond Visual Line of Sight drone flights, this waiver also lays the groundwork for sensor systems and data solutions that will integrate drones and Advanced Air Mobility passenger vehicles such as electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft into ‘highways in the sky’,” said Dr. Scott Uebelhart, Chief Scientist of MassDOT’s Aeronautics Advanced Aviation Technologies Group and CUIP Senior Program Manager. 

“We’ve flown more than 500 miles over the MBTA’s Commuter Rail track and also collected data over freight track across the state to support MassDOT’s Rail and Transit Division,” said Robin Grace, Chief of UAS/Drone Operations for MassDOT Aeronautics. “By reducing the number of circumstances requiring visual observers, the waiver could substantially reduce the time the team needs to map the rail network, providing valuable insight that complements the routine physical inspection conducted by rail personnel multiple times per week.” 

About MassDOT Aeronautics 

A division of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, MassDOT Aeronautics works to make air transportation safer, cleaner, more efficient, and more economically advantageous for the people, communities, and businesses of Massachusetts. MassDOT Aeronautics employs the highest standards in safety, engineering, and financial management to regulate and promote air transportation in the Commonwealth. The Agency maintains and oversees 35 of the State’s 38 public-use airports, supports economic development and job growth, reduces aviation’s environmental impact, and explores the introduction of advanced aviation systems. 

The MassDOT Aeronautics Drone Operations Program uses Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS, or drones) to support state and local agencies, municipalities, and quasi-governmental entities, primarily working with MassDOT and the MBTA. The Drone Program provides services such as assessing the condition of critical state infrastructure, including rail and transit facilities, roads, bridges, and airports The Drone Program also leverages a Data and Analytics Team, turning collected imagery into insightful data and actionable information for public transportation stakeholders and decision-makers. 

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