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13/05/2013
Unmanned Plane Completed 500-Mile Flight
The first “unmanned” flight across UK shared airspace has been completed.
According to the BBC, a pilot on-board the Jetstream aircraft handled the take-off from Warton, near Preston in Lancashire, and the eventual landing, in Inverness.
The National Air Traffic Services assisted a pilot on the ground as he remotely flew the plane on its 500-mile journey across UK airspace.
No-one but the pilot were on-board but the plane did fly in airspace used by commercial passenger carriers.
The plane, known as “the Flying Testbed”, used on-board sensors and robotics to identify and avoid hazards.
Andrew Chapman, a National Air Traffic Services unmanned air vehicle (UAV) expert said: "Nats ensured that this test flight was held without any impact on the safety of other users of airspace at the time.
"Although there is still work to be done it would seem that, on the basis of the success of this flight, a UAV could operate in different classes of airspace."
(MH/CD)
According to the BBC, a pilot on-board the Jetstream aircraft handled the take-off from Warton, near Preston in Lancashire, and the eventual landing, in Inverness.
The National Air Traffic Services assisted a pilot on the ground as he remotely flew the plane on its 500-mile journey across UK airspace.
No-one but the pilot were on-board but the plane did fly in airspace used by commercial passenger carriers.
The plane, known as “the Flying Testbed”, used on-board sensors and robotics to identify and avoid hazards.
Andrew Chapman, a National Air Traffic Services unmanned air vehicle (UAV) expert said: "Nats ensured that this test flight was held without any impact on the safety of other users of airspace at the time.
"Although there is still work to be done it would seem that, on the basis of the success of this flight, a UAV could operate in different classes of airspace."
(MH/CD)
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Flight recorders recovered from wreckage
The black boxes have been recovered from the wreckage of the Cypriot airliner in which all 121 passengers and crew lost their lives. The incident, the worst ever air accident in Greece, occurred near to Athens at around 12.00pm local time (9.00am BST) on Sunday when Helios Airways Flight 522 plunged into a hillside.
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Northern Ireland WeatherThis Evening and Tonight:Mostly cloudy with showery outbreaks of rain reaching parts of Antrim and Down later this evening, The showers will extend westwards overnight, clearing from most places by morning. Minimum temperature 7 °C.
