The 174th Attack Wing is entering new territory with training on drones, a remotely piloted aircraft. The team used the airport in Syracuse to test the waters, by having drones taxi the runway.
The goal is for crews to slowly get more familiar with ground operations for commercial flights, particularly air traffic control.
The practice could lead to sharing space more often.
“We’re doing a crawl, walk, run. We started in August started on our ramp. Today we taxied over to the airport ramp. We want to work with the FAA and local air traffic to make sure when we do eventually fly off Hancock Field that we do it safely. So this is just another step in the process toward that goal,” said Major Sandra Stoquert, with the Public Affairs Office.
The next step is an environmental assessment. The 174th expects to complete that phase by this spring.
Source: Local SYR