Akin Gump Assists in Forming Broad Partnership to Demonstrate Scalable Drone Use Cases for COVID-19 Humanitarian Response

(Washington, D.C.) – The COVID-19 Humanitarian UAS (Unmanned Aircraft Systems) Response Partnership (CHURP) has announced the conclusion of its latest operational phase: multiday flight operations and evaluation of two separate urban use cases to prepare for wider-scale deployment across the United States in response to COVID-19.

A team from Akin Gump worked closely with Emergent 121 to assemble and lead a team that included DroneUp, NUAIR and SUNY Upstate Medical University and other partners over a period of nine months to develop a program that has successfully delivered COVID-19 test kits over a route flown from the SUNY Upstate Medical Center heliport in downtown Syracuse, N.Y. to the Central New York Biotech Accelerator. The program provided essential tools and training that expanded the UAS capabilities of local public safety agencies at this critical time.

CHURP is composed of a team of organizations and experts with advanced UAS operations, telecommunications, public health and public safety experience working together to establish, test and launch safe, reliable, deployable and scalable UAS humanitarian operations to aid in response to COVID-19.  The CHURP team was able to obtain an FAA authorization to safely execute this unique UAS operation over people in an urban environment. Based on the success of this project, similar flights can now be expanded in New York and across the United States under this FAA waiver. 

“What we were able to accomplish during this unique UAS humanitarian mission, flown over people and in an urban environment, is another key step toward scalable UAS operations that industry has been aiming toward,” said Justin Towles of Akin Gump.

UAS, commonly referred to as “drones,” offer unique solutions to multiple challenges faced by health and public safety agencies during the COVID-19 crisis. Through this test project, CHURP worked to provide local officials the technology needed for public safety awareness, public address capability, contactless delivery and other solutions that enhance response speed and efficiency, while also significantly reducing personnel requirements and potential exposures.

For more information about this project, please click here.

The Akin Gump team comprises senior policy advisors Justin Towles and Clifford Sweatte and partner Jennifer Richter.

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP is a leading international law firm with more than 900 lawyers in offices throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

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