FAA authorizing 1st drone in Nevada test program; state chosen last year as 1 of 6 test sites

The Federal Aviation Administration is authorizing the first drone that will fly in Nevada as part of the federal drone test site program.

Dignitaries including Gov. Brian Sandoval, Sen. Dean Heller and Rep. Joe Heck were on hand Friday for the ceremony in Boulder City.

The agency is issuing a Test Site Special Airworthiness Certificate to "Magpie," a drone built by the company Sensurion.

Magpie was scheduled to take a test flight during the ceremony.

Nevada is one of six states chosen last December as national sites for drone testing. Alaska, New York, North Dakota, Texas and Virginia were the others.

The FAA does not allow commercial use of drones but plans to gather data from test sites to develop operational guidelines by the end of 2015.