California

Don’t look now, but Amazon’s beleaguered drone delivery program, Prime Air, is finally beginning to show signs of life. The company announced today that customers in Lockeford, California, will be among the first in the US to see Amazon drones delivering packages in their backyards.

A 55-year-old man has been arrested for dropping ignited M-80 type explosive devices from his drone in California. According to the authorities, the culprit has been issued a misdemeanor citation for dangerous fireworks, and his drone confiscated for evidence.

Biological science students at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo have schooled themselves in the art of drone piloting as part of their noble pursuit of counting members of local elephant seal populations.

The undersea equivalent of tropical rainforests, kelp forests are one of Earth’s most diverse and beneficial ecosystems. But in California, the last few years have seen a near-complete annihilation of the kelp following a marine heatwave that started in 2013. Now, drone surveys are showing signs of recovery.

Cleanup efforts are underway after a major oil spill off the coast of Southern California dumped more than 120,000 gallons – or 3,000 barrels – of heavy crude oil into the Pacific Ocean. Drone videos show oil-slicked water at Huntington Beach while crews on the water and onshore work feverishly to limit the environmental damage from the spill.

In response to a court order issued by Federal Probation Judge William Alsup, utility company PG&E had denied any knowledge of drone operations near the origin of the Dixie Fire – the second-largest recorded wildfire in California’s history. However, the court is now questioning PG&E’s claims, indicating that the company might know something about the drone after all.

With drones making spying on sharks easier than ever, videos of close encounters where swimmers and surfers are oblivious to the predators’ presence have become commonplace. What’s not common is to see people willingly flock to a shiver of sharks to hang out with them. But that’s exactly what happens every summer on the shores off the coast of La Jolla in San Diego, California.

Dixie Fire, which first ignited around July 13, is now considered the second-largest recorded wildfire in California’s history. It has so far burned close to 490,000 acres and is only 21% contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, aka Cal Fire. This has prompted a judge to order an investigation into a drone that appeared over the blaze on the day of ignition, forcing Cal Fire to end air operations prematurely.

The Animal Legal Defense Fund is offering a $5,000 reward for information on the pilot responsible for a drone crash at California’s Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in May. DroneDJ readers may recall our report on the heartbreaking event in which reckless drone use wiped out an entire generation of elegant terns.

A chilling discovery made by an underwater drone may have just solved a 56-year-old aviation mystery. A new sonar mapping technology drone has stumbled upon an airplane deep in the waters of California’s Folsom Lake. The near-intact wreckage matches the description of the four-seater airplane that crashed in the area in 1965.

After receiving severe weather in California, a section of Highway 1 has been completely washed out. Drones were quickly on the scene, capturing the full extent of the damage caused by the landslide.

Police in Chula Vista, California, have been able to use a drone to help arrest a 17-year-old suspect believed to have been involved in a shooting earlier this week. The teenager allegedly shot a man trying to get the license plate number of a car he was in after it was involved in a hit-and-run.

A man in East Bay, California, is using his DJI Matrice drone to find pets lost during natural disasters, including the wildfires burning across the state. Douglas Thron is using the infrared camera on the drone to spot the animals with ease from above.

CyberHawk has won a drone inspection contract with a major California utility provider after a long competitive process. CyberHawk will provide inspection services to maintain and detect any issues with the state’s electrical infrastructure.

Shane Cole from the Antioch Police Department recently used a drone to help rescue a father and daughter after their canoe capsized in the San Joaquin River, California. The drone was able to locate the two, with Mr. Cole saving the daughter and the Contra Costa Fire department rescuing the father.

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On Thursday morning, the Oxnard Police Department arrested a man for suspicion of prowling. Two residents in the Pleasant Valley Estates housing tracts saw the man suspiciously looking into the backyards of their neighbors’ homes. They kept following the suspect and contacted the police, who later deployed a drone to help in the arrest of the man.

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After one year of police officers flying about a dozen DJI Mavic Airs to fight crime and respond to emergencies, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office has released its first report on their use. The annual drone use report is part of the Sheriff’s Office transparency policy that explains the agreement between the police and the community on how the unmanned aerial systems are allowed to be used.

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The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released drone video footage of NBA legend Kobe Bryant’s helicopter crash site near Calabasas, California. The video, released on YouTube, includes both drone footage as well as on-ground video. NTSB personnel are using a DJI Phantom series drone to map out the scene of the wreckage.

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Drones bring us some of the most amazing video footage. Just take a look at this drone video showing a grey whale casually swimming underneath a group of surfers at Doheny. And the crazy part is that hardly anybody seems to notice the massive creature.

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This year’s fire season in California has started out with massive fires in Los Angeles and near San Francisco. PG&E’s aging transmission lines form a huge risk as failing equipment can potentially start wildfires as was the case last year. The Camp Fire in 2018 was started by a powerline that came down from a transmission tower after one of the hooks that hold up the lines broke. An article in the Wall Street Journal investigates the status of the PG&E towers and lines in California and uses drone footage to show the aging equipment.

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