CalTran is working hard to open SR 120 or otherwise known as Tioga Pass May 2019.

Tioga Pass is a 13 mile stretch of highway that begins at the junction of US Hwy 395 and travels west to the east entrance gate of Yosemite National Park. Currently the pass is closed due to snow.
Every year Californians waiting to get to the Eastern Sierra destinations along Highway 395, like Mono Lake, Mammoth lakes and other lovely places. Likewise various visitors, including international visitors from Las Vegas, Death valley looking to visit  Yosemite National Park, eagerly await the opening of State Route 120, The Tioga Pass. The task is not a simple one as it accumulates 25-30 feet (about 8-10M) of snow and this year it kept on snowing with storm after storm. So it might me more.
Here is a video by Caltran showing how tough job it is. The clearing vehicles are all equipped with state of the art tools to keep them safe.
Currently SR 120 is closed but the SR 108, which runs parallel, to a bit north

くる完全新作アクションRPG『ELDEN RING（エルデンリング）Mix 'Dark Souls' And 'Game Of Thrones' and You Got The New Game.

 ELDEN RING, 

A NEW WORLD CREATED BY HIDETAKA MIYAZAKI AND GEORGE R. R. MARTIN. Developed by FromSoftware, Inc. and BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc., 

ELDENRING is a is a fantasy action-RPG adventure set within a world created by Hidetaka Miyazaki – creator of the influential DARK SOULS video game series; and George R.R. Martin – author of The New York Times best-selling fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire. Within the world of ELDEN RING, danger and discovery lurk around every corner in FromSoftware’s largest game to-date. Twitter: @ELDENRING Instagram: @ELDENRING Facebook: @ELDENRINGOFFICIAL Website: www.ELDENRING.com

Gaming

フロム・ソフトウェアとバンダイナムコエンターテインメントがおくる完全新作アクションRPG『ELDEN RING（エルデンリング）』 プラットフォーム：PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC 発売日：未定 オフィシャルサイ

Hensel Phelps Using ParaZero Parachute Safety System Gets The First Ever Waiver To Fly Over People Safely.

We published an article about FAA granting Hansel Phelps a waiver, first ever, to fly over people. Hansel Phelps used a DJI Phantom equipped with ParaZero Technologies' parachute that gets deployed when the drone gets disabled in the air.

“The FAA has demonstrated a truly collaborative approach, through which they help develop the ASTM standard, work together in the UASIPP and provide feedback on the waiver applications and documentation." said Avi Lozowick, ParaZero’s Vice President of Policy and Strategy on the occasion
Safety is a core value at Hensel Phelps, Utilizing UAS, equipped with ParaZero’s SafeAir Systems, on our job sites allows us to operate more efficiently and accurately and we are committed to leveraging this technology as safely as possible.“ commented Richard Lopez, National UAS Operations Executive for Hensel Phelps. 

Happy Drone flights. 

ParZero Press Release;

FAA Grants Groundbreaking Approval to Fly Over People for Hensel Phelps Using ParaZero Safety System

Tel-Aviv, Israel, June 4, 2019: Drone safety systems company, ParaZero Technologies Ltd (ASX:PRZ), announced today that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has approved a first-ever waiver allowing general contractor, Hensel Phelps, to fly over people using ParaZero’s ASTM compliant SafeAir Phantom Parachute System.

Hensel Phelps is one of the largest general contractors in the United States and has been leading the industry in adoption of UAS technology for construction. The use of UAS benefits projects by helping teams enhance safety, improve efficiency, manage and monitor schedules and communicate logistics. Hensel Phelps maintains an unwavering commitment to safety for all of their projects and this safety culture extends to their use of UAS technology.

Code of Federal Regulations 14, Part 107, defines the rules and requirements for operators of UAS (a.k.a. drones) for commercial purposes. Section 107.39 restricts any UAS operations over human beings. While necessary for safety reasons, this has been a major detriment to the growth of the commercial UAS industry as it has limited many operations in urban and sub-urban environments.

As part of the waiver approval process, the FAA used the information included in the waiver application to determine the system acceptably met ASTM F3322-18. UAS operators that purchased the ParaZero SafeAir Phantom ASTM Professional Kit, received the documentation required to demonstrate the compliance of the system.

This waiver represents the first time the FAA has collaborated with industry in developing a publically available standard, worked with an applicant to ensure the testing and data collected acceptably met the standard, and issued a waiver using an industry standard as a basis to determine that a proposed sUAS operation can be safely conducted under the terms and conditions of a waiver under Part 107.

According to the FAA: This process is scalable and available to other applicants who propose to use the same drone and parachute combination. The FAA will require each applicant to provide the testing, documentation, and statement of compliance listed in ASTM3322-18 in their applications using the same drone and parachute combination.

“The FAA has demonstrated a truly collaborative approach, through which they help develop the ASTM standard, work together in the UASIPP and provide feedback on the waiver applications and documentation. “said Avi Lozowick, ParaZero’s Vice President of Policy and Strategy.

“Safety is a core value at Hensel Phelps,” commented Richard Lopez, National UAS Operations Executive for Hensel Phelps. “Utilizing UAS, equipped with ParaZero’s SafeAir Systems, on our job sites allows us to operate more efficiently and accurately and we are committed to leveraging this technology as safely as possible.”

ParaZero CEO, Eden Attias comments: “The approval of this waiver is the goal ParaZero has been striving to achieve for the past two years. A replicable process is key to enable the growth of the UAS industry.”

FAA Issues First Ever Part 107 Waiver to Fly A Drone With Parachutes, Over people for Hensel Phelps Construction and Parazero Technologies

Update :  After publishing we were able to find out that the Parachute was provided by Parazero Technologies LTD. Please find ParaZero press release.. We have replaced the photo with the right one and a video.

FAA worked with Hensel Phelps Construction to develop a public standard to ensure the testing and data collection to confirm that the waiver meets the proposed sUAS operation can be safely conducted under the terms and conditions of a waiver under Part 107. The setup was a DJI Phantom 4 drone, equipped with a parachute, planing to fly over people.

While FAA did not certify or approve the parachute used, FAA mentioned that the process is scalable and available to other applicants who propose to use the same drone and parachute combination. The FAA will require each applicant to provide the testing, documentation, and statement of compliance listed in ASTM3322-18 in their applications using the same drone and parachute combination.

FAA News Release;

FAA Issues Waiver to Fly Drones With Parachutes

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced today that it issued Hensel Phelps Construction Company of Greeley, Colorado, a Part 107 waiver on June 1 to operate a DJI Phantom 4 drone, equipped with a parachute, over people.

A waiver is required to operate a drone contrary to the rules in part 107, which is the small unmanned aircraft rule.

The FAA did not certify or approve the parachute that will be used; however, the FAA determined that the waiver application sufficiently met the standard design specification (ASTM 3322-18) and that the proposed small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS) operation could be safely conducted under the terms and conditions of a waiver.

This waiver represents the first time the FAA has collaborated with industry in developing a publically available standard, worked with an applicant to ensure the testing and data collected acceptably met the standard, and issued a waiver using an industry standard as a basis to determine that a proposed sUAS operation can be safely conducted under the terms and conditions of a waiver under Part 107.

This process is scalable and available to other applicants who propose to use the same drone and parachute combination. The FAA will require each applicant to provide the testing, documentation, and statement of compliance listed in ASTM3322-18 in their applications using the same drone and parachute combination.

DJI Announces The Company's Drones Meet New Transport Canada Requirements For Flight Near People

The announcement, confirms along with the DJI’s previous declaration of compliance with new requirements for drone flight in controlled airspace in Canada, allows DJI customers to use their preferred drones in Canadian air Space.

 “DJI customers choose our drones because they know our longstanding history of making powerful, reliable and dependable aerial platforms, and we are proud to say they can continue using our products under the new Transport Canada system beginning June 1.” said Javier Caina, DJI director of technical standards.
Transport Canada announced its new regulatory framework for certain types of advanced civilian drone operations in January, requiring the use of drones whose manufacturer has declared that its drones meet reliability and operational characteristics under a safety assurance framework. DJI drones that can be used near people and in controlled airspace are the M600 Series, M200 Series, M200 V2 Series, Inspire 2, Mavic 2 series, Mavic Pro, Mavic Air, Phantom 4 series and Spark. The new declaration is expected to soon be reflected in Transport Canada’s list of drones eligible for advanced operations at this link.


DJI News Release;

DJI Drones Meet New Transport Canada Requirements For Flight Near PeopleDJI Customers May Fly Nine Popular Models Near People And In Controlled Airspace
May 29, 2019 – DJI, the world’s leader in civilian drones and aerial imaging technology, is pleased to declare that nine of its models meet the new Transport Canada requirements taking effect June 1 for drone flight within 30 meters (100 feet) of people. The new declaration, along with DJI’s previously declared compliance with new requirements for drone flight in controlled airspace, allows DJI customers to use their preferred drones for a variety of safe, responsible and beneficial uses across Canada.“DJI customers choose our drones because they know our longstanding history of making powerful, reliable and dependable aerial platforms, and we are proud to say they can continue using our products under the new Transport Canada system beginning June 1,” said Javier Caina, DJI Director of Technical Standards. “We have put months of effort into documenting our safety expectations, testing standards, reliability guidelines and other processes to comply with Transport Canada’s new requirements. Thanks to this effort, we are able to confirm that our customers can continue flying DJI drones in controlled airspace and near people when the new rules take effect.”Transport Canada announced its new regulatory framework for certain types of advanced civilian drone operations in January, requiring the use of drones whose manufacturer has declared that its drones meet reliability and operational characteristics under a safety assurance framework. DJI drones that can be used near people and in controlled airspace are the M600 Series, M200 Series, M200 V2 Series, Inspire 2, Mavic 2 series, Mavic Pro, Mavic Air, Phantom 4 series and Spark. The new declaration is expected to soon be reflected in Transport Canada’s list of drones eligible for advanced operations at this link.DJI has long set the standard for safe operations in the drone industry, pioneering a series of technological improvements and educational systems to help ensure drones retain their admirable safety record. Most recently, DJI released “Elevating Safety,” its 10-point plan for government and industry to work together on keeping the skies safe in the drone age. As part of this effort, DJI will install AirSense, which warns drone pilots of nearby airplanes and helicopters, in all new drone models weighing more than 250 grams launched after Jan. 1, 2020. DJI will also create a new warning system for drone pilots flying at extended distances, and create an internal Safety Standards Group to document technical expectations and study performance results. More details on these initiatives are available at dji.com/flysafe.

Amazon Delivery Drone Unveiled, It Is A Tie Fighter

Amazon today showed off its newest fully electric delivery drone at its first re:Mars conference in Las Vegas.

The drone introduced today is quite a departure from Amazon's earlier models / prototypes.
Also more prominent was that the drone is chock-full of sensors and a suite of compute modules that run a variety of AI machine learning models to keep the drone safely afloat. It is also the first time Amazon is publicly spoke about those visual, thermal and ultrasonic sensors, which were designed in-house, and how the drone’s autonomous flight systems maneuver it to its landing spot. The focus of Amazon was to build a drone that is as safe and able to be  operationally safe independently on it's own. Even when it’s not connected to a network and it encounters a new situation, it’ll be able to react appropriately and safely.
When the drone has taken off vertically and when switch to airplane mode, it looks a little bit like a TIE fighter, where the core holds all the sensors and navigation technology, as well as the package. The new drone can fly up to 15 miles and carry packages that weigh up to five pounds.
It remains to be seen where the new drone will make its first deliveries. That’s a secret Amazon also isn’t quite ready to reveal yet. That will happen within the next few months, though. Amazon started drone deliveries in England a while back, so that’s an obvious choice, but there’s no reason the company could opt for another country as well. The U.S. seems like an unlikely candidate, given that the regulations there are still in flux, but maybe that’s a problem that will be solved by then, too. Either way, what once looked like a bit of a Black Friday stunt may just land in your backyard sooner than you think.

Boeing Says 737NG and 737MAX May Be Flying With Up to 148 'Improperly Manufactured' Parts.

Adding to to the list of Boeing public relations and aircraft issues, Boeing has informed the Federal Aviation Administration that some of its 737 jets that include 737NG and 737MAX  may have “improperly manufactured” wing parts that don’t meet strength and durability standards.
Various airlines have promised to take appropriate steps to ensure passenger safety.

6/2/2019 Update

FAA Statement

Boeing has informed the FAA that certain 737NG and 737MAX leading edge slat tracks may have been improperly manufactured and may not meet all applicable regulatory requirements for strength and durability.

Following an investigation conducted by Boeing and the FAA Certificate Management Office (CMO), we have determined that up to 148 parts manufactured by a Boeing sub-tier supplier are affected. Boeing has identified groups of both 737NG and 737MAX airplane serial numbers on which these suspect parts may have been installed. 32 NG and 33 MAX are affected in the U.S. Affected worldwide fleet are 133 NG and 179 MAX aircraft.

The affected parts may be susceptible to premature failure or cracks resulting from the improper manufacturing process. Although a complete failure of a leading edge slat track would not result in the loss of the aircraft, a risk remains that a failed part could lead to aircraft damage in flight.

The FAA will issue an Airworthiness Directive to mandate Boeing's service actions to identify and remove the discrepant parts from service. Operators of affected aircraft are required to perform this action within 10 days. The FAA today also alerted international civil aviation authorities of this condition and required actions.