We’ve been kind of obsessed with jetpack guy since he was first spotted last summer near Los Angeles International Airport. Now, new information has come to light that suggests it could well be a drone.
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We usually skip over fail videos on YouTube. But when we happened across this one, we thought it offered some lessons for drone pilots. And so we’re going to interrupt our normal drone news programming to offer you a greatest hits package featuring some dreadful pilot errors. Oh yes, and a couple of dogs.
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In what appears to be a first, a drone pilot has pleaded guilty to colliding his drone into a Los Angeles Police Department helicopter. It’s believed to be the first criminal conviction in the United States for unsafe operation of an unmanned aircraft.
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The FAA is hoping a new reminder, along with some graphics, might result in people keeping their drones well clear of stadiums at game-time.
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We’ve had a number of inquiries about whether it will be legal to fly DJI’s new FPV drone (when it’s eventually released). Of course, the same regulations would apply to all FPV drones, not just a DJI product. We knew the answer, but thought it would be good to take a deeper dive.
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We believe rules are there for a reason. And both the Federal Aviation Administration and its Canadian equivalent, Transport Canada, have tried to strike a balance between maintaining safe airspace and letting drone pilots go about their business. But there will always be those who ignore the rules.
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Ahhhh….winter. Those crisp skies, stable air, and particles of freezing moisture. Should you be concerned? Why yes, yes you should be. Just wait till you see what happened to one pilot.
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DJI’s interactive drone rescue map has hit a major milestone, displaying over 500 people rescued with drones. The map, which was introduced earlier in the year, has been an easy way for people and organizations to add their drone-aided rescues.
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CAL Analytics has launched its drone safety platform and detects and avoids services to improve the safety of drone flights. The platform results from a collaborative effort between CAL Analytics, ResilienX, TrueWeather Solutions, Kongsberg Geospatial, Kent State University, and Ohio State University.
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This week is National Drone Safety Awareness Week (NDSAW), and AUVSI has once again sponsored the event. The event runs from November 16-22 with various daily virtual events for you to take part in.
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It may be Friday the 13th, but it’s also National Drone Safety Awareness day in Canada. It’s Canada’s inaugural drone safety day — and comes just before the FAA launches its National Drone Safety Awareness week. Let’s find out more.
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Next week is National Drone Safety Awareness Week! It’s a week full of educational programming focusing on the safe operation of drones. The event is run by a public-private partnership called Know Before You Fly and will collaborate with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
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DJI‘s drone apps have no-fly zones built-in, a safety feature that is great to have right in the DJI app but is it as useful as you might think? Personally, it’s a no from me, the app usually has no-fly zones for major airports but misses out for some smaller airports.
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Ensuring that everything is A-OK prior to taking off for a drone flight is important. But it’s not that easy to remember all the various things that you should really be marking methodically off a checklist. That’s why we recommend using and personalizing a standard pre-flight checklist.
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The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) shared a drone rules reminder on Twitter after what we can only assume caused the message to be sent out, neighbors sharing a drink with each other via a drone in eastern Australia.
The Nottinghamshire Police force in the UK, along with the Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue, is adding a 24/7 drone team as a new way to improve security as well as for use in emergencies. The team will also have a dedicated drone car used for fast responses and as a mobile ground station.
An Australian drone pilot was fined AUD$7750 earlier this month in the Wollongong Magistrates Court over unsafe drone flights. The man was spotted by the public and later the NSW Police. The fine comes as the Civil Aviation Authority (CASA) is finalizing new drone laws and taking a hands-on approach in the drone community.
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Australia’s leader in drone deliveries, Wing Aviation, is working with the Australian government to keep drone pilots safe and flying legally with their new app, OpenSky. The app is set to replace the ‘Can I Fly There?’ app created by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA). This is the first of many apps planned by Wing Aviation and CASA in preparation to keep Australian skies safe.
Last weekend, drone pilot Pablo Chacon posted this video to YouTube in which he claims to have made the longest drone flight ever. Pablo flew his unmodified DJI Mavic 2 Pro for more than 22 miles over a busy road in Florida. Is this, as he claims, indeed the longest, continuous flight ever with a standard DJI Mavic 2 Pro? Maybe, but one thing is for sure, it is not the safest flight ever. Not by a long shot.
If you want to fly your drone over crowds of people, you need a waiver from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The first such waiver was awarded to CNN using the Snap Drone from Vantage Robotics. Indemnis started working with DJI in 2017 to develop a parachute system for DJI drones so that flights over people might be allowed by the FAA. Today, Indemnis and DJI announced that the Indemnis Nexus parachute system for the DJI Inspire 2 drone has been validated as compliant with the new international standard for drone parachutes. The company hopes to be able to offer parachute systems for the Matrice 200 series and Matrice 600 series drones by late 2019.
The Australian Government’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) launched a dedicated website today, called DroneFlyer, to help people new to flying drones the rules of the game. It is a really nice and user-friendly website with easy-to-understand information for anybody getting into drones, whether you are an 8-year-old who got a drone for his birthday or you are thinking about starting a career as a commercial drone pilot.
