Drone Manufacturer Asks FAA To Approve Unmanned Medical Supply Flights In Response To Pandemic
Zipline is offering to setup a drone-based supply chain across the US for distribution of emergency supplies such as medicine, PPE gear, test kits and even blood to ease supply chain blockages. The drones are launched by catapult and recovered by an arrestor system. The company has been operating the drones to deliver emergency medical supplies to remote locations in Africa for several years. Medical supplies are dropped by parachute to healthcare workers and rushed to areas suffering severe shortages.
Read more at:
https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2020/april/13/zipline-pitches-drones-for-us-coronavirus-relief
(Photo credit: From Zipline via AOPA: Zipline created these fixed-wing drones.)
Critical Cargo Bypassing Bottleneck at Ocean Ports Aboard Chartered Passenger Aircraft
Bottlenecks in the global supply chain are being bypassed by repurposing passenger aircraft for critical cargo. With retailers worldwide closing shop, warehouses becoming backed up with undelivered goods, increasing trucking restrictions and driver shortages, importers are being forced to delay delivery of goods that can’t be sold or stored. This clogs ports with containers and slows critical food and medical supply chains. Ocean carriers are rerouting containers to transshipment ports and yards close to destination so they can reach markets more quickly when business resumes, while keeping major ports unclogged. To keep food and medical supply chains flowing, critical cargo is moving on passenger aircrafts that have been idle since the travel ban.
Read more about how the ocean and air transport industries are adapting to the crisis at:
https://www.joc.com/air-cargo/idle-passenger-planes-take-mini-freighter-roles_20200317.html
(Photo credit: IAPH/International Association of Ports and Harbors)
Piper Aircraft Applies R&D Ingenuity To Build Superior Medical Masks For Hospitals Faced With A Shortage Of PPE
The engineers at Piper Aircraft came up with a unique solution to the current shortage of masks for healthcare workers. Using a plastic stamping machine and materials normally used in the production of aircraft interiors, they found a way to utilize in-house equipment and materials for the production of face shields for hospitals on the front line.
Read more about Piper’s engineering turnaround at:
https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2020/march/30/piper-joins-fight-for-coronavirus-relief
(Photo credit: Piper Aircraft via AOPA/Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association)