Unmanned Safety Institute (USI), an aviation-based safety training and industry certification provider for unmanned operations, has been contracted by Able Flight, a national aviation non-profit, to provide its scholarship recipients with career oriented unmanned aerial systems (UAS) training and education.

Able Flight has been providing flight training scholarships to individuals with physical disabilities since 2006, and in recent years has expanded the program to include scholarships supporting training for a variety of aviation careers. 

In its 14-year history, Able Flight has awarded over 110 flight training and aviation career training scholarships.

Executive director of Able Flight, Charles Stites, said: “With the growth of unmanned aviation, and with a positive outlook for career opportunities in commercial drone operations, we determined that this would be a great time to add a UAS option to our career training scholarship program. 

“As with the facilities who provide instruction to recipients of our flight training scholarships, we choose to work with organizations like USI that have developed programs that go well beyond the minimum standards required by the FAA.”

“The inherent requirements of unmanned aviation could provide for significantly greater career opportunities for individuals with some sort of physical disability,” added Josh Olds, president of the Unmanned Safety Institute.  

“As we became more familiar with Able Flight, it was apparent that their focus on pilot safety and competency would translate into incredibly talented, industry ready, UAS pilots through their participation in the USI training program.”  

Individuals interested in participating in the Able Flight UAS Pilot training program can visit the Able Flight website for more information.