Last night, a massive fire destroyed the roof and spire of the Norte Dame in Paris. DJI drones helped firefighters put out the inferno. French firefighters used the drones, likely a DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise Dual and an M210 borrowed from the culture and interior ministries, to aid them in tackling the blaze. The unmanned aircraft provided insight into how the fire was spreading and helped firefighters to determine the most effective positions of fire hoses.

As we fully support female drone pilots, we’d like to point out that in a short video from the French Ministry of the Interior a woman is seen at the controls of what seems to be a DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise Dual drone.

Update: Gabriel Plus, spokesperson for the French firefighters was reported to have said:

“It is thanks to these drones, to this new technique absolutely unavoidable today, that we could make tactical choices to stop this fire at a time when it was potentially occupying the two belfries.”

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DJI urges drone pilots, operators, and drone fleet managers in the United States to comment on the proposed Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) rules.

Before the proposed FAA rules come into effect there is a timeframe in which you can submit your comments. As of now, fewer than 100 comments have been received about flight at night and over people. The FAA actually pays attention to your input and takes it into consideration when making the final rules.

You can submit your comments on:

1. proposed new rules to allow professionals to routinely fly drones at night and over people
2. how to safely prepare for Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM), implement payload restrictions and enable flight beyond visual line of sight.

So, please take a minute or two and check out these links below and submit your comments for the FAA to consider. The deadline is Monday, April 15th. You can read DJI’s official statement below.

Update 1: when we wrote this article, only 84 comments had been submitted to the FAA. Now a few days later the counter sits at 306 comments. That is great news! DJI’s message has spread to a number of other websites as well and that obviously helped to reach a larger number of drone pilots. It is good to see such an immediate response coming out of our community. Keep in mind we still have four more days to go, so please keep submitting your comments to the FAA. the original article was posted on April 9th.

Update 2: Keep in mind the deadline is at the end of the 15th, meaning you can still submit your comments today! As of today, the comments counter stands at 647, which is quite an achievement, considering that we were only at 84 last week. Thanks to all of the media outlets pushing for comments over the last so many days, and to all the drone pilots and operators who submitted their feedback and comments to the FAA!

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It seems like no other DJI product has received this many product updates in such a short time frame. Today, DJI releases yet another new Osmo Pocket firmware update. Version v01.06.00.30. This latest firmware update solves an issue that has to do with incorrect timestamps on photos and videos. It is a relatively small update but a necessary one.

The previous firmware update was released less than two weeks ago. In that update, DJI improved face tracking, focus pulsing and added an icon when you add an external microphone to the device.

While the DJI Osmo Pocket may not deliver the video quality professional videographers and filmmakers are after, especially in low light conditions, I still really like the gimbal-stabilized camera for its ease-of-use and pocketability. The Osmo Pocket is so easy to take with you and in the right conditions provides both good video quality and sound quality, that I always bring it with me.

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Last night a drone illegally flew over Fenway Park during a Red Sox-Blue Jays game. According to Boston Police, the drone was first spotted around 9:30 pm and was last seen around 10:20 pm. The Red Sox said that they have reported the incident to the Police. Both the police and the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) are looking into the situation. Flying drones over crowds or over a packed stadium are against the FAA’s regulations. DJI issued a statement on the drone incident as well.

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In a second story about drones for good, an injured hiker was rescued with the help of a drone. The woman had fallen nearly 30-feet, down a rocky slope in Clear Creek Canyon in Denver, Colorado. A drone was used to locate the woman, but it took three dozen rescue workers nearly six hours, an inflatable raft and two rope systems to bring the hiker back to safety from the inaccessible backcountry. Based on the photos in a tweet from West Metro Fire Rescue, it seems that another DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise has been used in this rescue.

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This morning, DJI announced the continuation of their partnership with the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) to advance the use of drones. The LAFD will get access to DJI’s latest drone technology, training, and support. This is very exciting news as we see an increase in the use of unmanned aircraft by both police and fire departments around the country to help save people’s lives and bring them back home safely. Just see today’s stories here on DroneDJ.

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