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The Federal Aviation Administration has approved requests from the Michigan State Police to be the first agency in the country to be authorized to fly drones statewide.
State Police began training flights of the unmanned aircraft systems in February at the agency’s Lansing training academy.
On February 25, the FAA granted the MSP’s request for authorization to fly the drone for law enforcement support missions statewide.
Officials say potential missions include search and rescue, crime scene and crash investigations.
A drone was used for the first time on March 4 to help with a fire investigation near Jenison in west Michigan. The Aeryon SkyRanger collected both video and photographs of the structure to help investigators determine the origin and cause of the fire.
State Police say teams will adhere to rules already established for radio control airplanes and other model aircraft, and will always involve two people; one to pilot the aircraft and the other to act as a safety observer. The device must remain below 400 feet and always be within line of sight of the crew.
