The use of the drone applied to healthcare logistics. For the first time in Italy, blood samples still to be analyzed were transported by drone.
D-Flight, society of ENAV (owned by Leonardo and Telespazio), which provides drone traffic management services, ed ENAC, the National Civil Aviation Authority, have performed performed the transfer flights, with a specially equipped drone, by blood samples untested taken at the company's Opera and Rozzano centres Cerba HealthCare Italy, a diagnostic and clinical analysis company.
Flight details
The flights, carried out on Monday 27 February in the Milan area, took place in BVLOS mode (Beyond Visual Line Of Sight), ie without eye contact from the pilot with the drone. The aircraft, which took off and landed in a controlled fenced area (3×3 meters) is equipped with six engines and corresponding propellers (exarotor) with ballistic parachute, dual communication channel and flight termination system verified by EASA, which with its load weighed 25 kg. The flights, operated by the company Nimbus which designed and developed the drone and the box for the safe transport of blood to be subjected to analysis, involved rural and urban areas.
Technological innovation at the service of citizens
“The experimentation in Milan falls within the strategic activities of air mobility advanced achieved thanks totechnological innovation at the service of citizens. In particular, this is the first operating authorization in a specific category issued by ENAC in accordance with Regulation (EU) n.2019/947 for the safe transport with a drone of biological samples that the legislation classifies as dangerous goods. Ensuring that these services become our daily routine as soon as possible cannot disregard the construction of a system that operates in synergy, as was the case in this case with ENAV and D-Flight. The success of the experiment pays us optimistic for rapid development of operations with UAS and, more generally, for theimplementation of new technologies of advanced and sustainable air mobility that are leading us towards a very near future” he declared Alessio Quaranta, General manager ENAC.
“Today we are facing a concrete example of Innovative Air Mobility in Italy. This is another step forward for the creation of the U-Space in Italy, the airspace dedicated to drones. The experimentation and coordination work with the actors of the unmanned world is making the possibility of using drones in multiple activities increasingly concrete for the benefit of the sustainability and efficiency of services. We continue to work with ENAC on thesystem harmonization trying to optimize the airspace infrastructure thanks to cutting-edge technologies and procedures,” he says Maurice Paggetti, Chief Operating Officer of ENAV and Chief Executive Officer of D-Flight.
