Sky-Futures, a global provider of unmanned aerial system (UAS) inspections in the oil and gas industry, has approved – under its Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) National Qualified Equity (NQE) status – three new remote pilots.
Two join Sky-Futures following distinguished military careers: Mike Belither from the British Army and Javier Teofilo-Sanchez from the Royal Marines. Their previous roles included the use of UAS for surveillance and reconnaissance missions. Mungo Laing, who holds a commercial pilot license, joins Sky-Futures with a background as a pilot in civil aviation.
Sky-Futures says it has been hiring new remote pilots to support the company’s fast growth as it expands operations in the U.K., the U.S., southeast Asia and the Middle East.
Following successful completion of training, the pilots have achieved Sky-Futures Remote Pilot (S-FRP) certification. S-FRP status is awarded to those who successfully complete Sky-Futures’ internal remote pilot syllabus. The in-house training course includes ground school, flight school and industry-specific inductions.
Sky-Futures was granted NQE approval at the beginning of this year. NQE status enables the company to train prospective remote pilots to a CAA-approved competency level for visual line of sight UAS operations.
Sky-Futures, a member of the Small UAV Coalition, was recently granted FAA approval to conduct operations in the U.S.
