First FAA-approved drone delivery takes medicine to rural VA

Days after the first Federal Aviation Administration-approved drone delivery successfully dropped off medicine at a Virginia health fair, researchers behind the mission are already looking ahead to future uses of this technology -- in humanitarian crises. The delivery Friday took 24 packages of medicine and other medical supplies to an annual health fair in Wise County, Va., in the middle of coal country in Appalachia. More than 1,500 patients typically come out to this free event. Medical supplies are usually driven on mountain roads to the location, which can take an hour and a half to reach, said Jon Greene, associate director of the mid-Atlantic aviation partnership at Virginia Tech, a partner in the event.