On Tuesday, a large unmanned passenger drone took off in Sint-Truiden (Limburg) to transport some blood samples – a European first. The aircraft flew for a kilometer through DronePort’s test airspace.

The experiment was accompanied by the Belgian Antwerp-based company Helicus, which develops drone applications and technologies for medical transport. The drone’s test flight was based on a pre-drawn flight path. Safety pilots stood by and closely monitored everything on the ground, but intervention was unnecessary.

Medical applications

The aircraft is an Ehang 216 AAV from Chinese drone manufacturer Ehang Holdings Limited. Although passenger transport is not yet legally permitted, the two-seat passenger aircraft has 16 electric motors and a cruising speed of 130 km/hour.

It has a 30 km range with max payload and can stay in the air for up to 30 minutes, which will be enough for emergency transport of blood and organs to hospitals for start. But the drone should be able to bring doctors or medical staff to an emergency in the near future too.

According to Helicus CEO Mikael Shamim, it was the first time that this type of drone went up in the air in Belgium and also the first time in Europe for medical transport. “An important step to prepare the drones’ effective use for medical applications in our daily environment,” he said.

However, a lot still needs to be done at European level before such drones – and especially manned devices – are allowed to take off and carry out medical transports.

Vertical takeoff and landing

Minister of Mobility Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo) sees enormous advantages in using drones. “They enable complex missions with an unseen efficiency while at the same time being inexpensive and environmentally friendly. Some helicopter or light aircraft flights can perfectly be performed by drones, reducing the carbon footprint of those missions significantly.”

The Ehang AAV is an eco-friendly and intelligent autonomous aerial vehicle and provides a low-altitude short-and-medium-haul transportation solution. Other advantages are that airport infrastructure or runway are not required. It is made for vertical takeoff and landing. The vehicle uses green electricity and can be fully charged in two hours.