Bella Wings Aviation founder Charlie Hermosa talks about drone applications for public safety at a workshop on June 20.
Bella Wings Aviation officials say drones have numerous applications for public safety, including search and rescue and border safety.
The class takes place from June 20-26 and is a mix of classroom instruction and drone flight practice.
FIFTEEN CNMI first responders and public safety personnel are undergoing training on drone technology for public safety applications with Bella Wings Aviation.
On Tuesday, June 20, on the campus of the Northern Marianas Technical Institute, representatives from CNMI Customs Biosecurity, the Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services, CNMI Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, the Department of Public Safety, the Department of Corrections, and the CNMI Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting Unit began training to earn their licenses as drone pilots.
Jacque Villagomez, a consultant for Bella Wings Aviation, said first responders and safety personnel will be in a workshop setting and will also have the opportunity to fly drones from June 20 to the 26. In total, they will have 40 hours of training and then take a pilots licensing examination approved by the Federal Aviation Administration.
Charlie Hermosa, BWA president and co-founder, said drones can be used for recovering lost hikers, searching for overdue or missing swimmers, and monitoring national borders.
During the class, Hermosa also shared a video of 3-D “digital twin” imagery captured by a drone. In the video, police were able to recreate an exact digital image of an automobile crash that could be manipulated to show various angles of the impact.
Hermosa said autonomous drones can be programed to fly over a pre-scanned, pre-planned route.
BWA co-founder Pearla Cordero said drones can fill many roles for public safety personnel.
“You will ask yourself what can drones not do? There’s so many things that drones are capable of doing–saving lives, saving time, being able to go into scenarios and inspect the core elements of a scene,” Cordero said.
The training for first responders and emergency personnel was first announced by BWA via Variety in May.
The company is based in Guam and offers numerous drone services, including unmanned aerial inspections of commercial sites, video production, and aerial search and rescue. They performed the drone light show at the 2022 Pacific Mini Games.
On May 3 of this year, Hermosa and the rest of his company met with legislators and the governor to announce that drone delivery manufacturing is coming to Saipan, and that different drone workforce development activities will take place in 2023 and beyond.
