The NTSB has issued a final rule defining an Unmanned Aircraft Accident and its responsibilities. It is disappointing and disturbing. Public safety pilots fly under the most challenging conditions with extraordinary demands and pressures. This creates additional risks and liabilities for flight. With manufacturers silent on known safety defects of UAS and no government agency … Read more
What I’m about to share applies to most drone manufacturers. While I mention Skydio, they are not alone in this mess, in my opinion. They do make a great example of my point though. I’ve held my tongue on Skydio drones. But Paul Rossi from Nine Ten Drones broke the door open with this LinkedIn … Read more
One of my favorite programs to dig through UAS flight logs for DJI aircraft is Flight Reader. A new update is out. Visit FlightReader.com for more information. There is a help forum for additional information as well.
In 2021, Michael jones sued the North Carolina Board of Examiners for Engineers and Surveyors (NCBEES) in an attempt to get them to back off from proceeding with enforcement action for illegal surveying services. Jones apparently felt taking photos and doing aerial maps should not fall under an NC surveying law. You can read the … Read more
For the past few years concerns have been raised about drone pilots not flying within the FAA regulations. Non-compliance from avoiding other aircraft, flying beyond the visual line of sight, flying at night, etc. Drone pilots may have felt put upon by the FAA and other manned aircraft pilots. But let’s add a new twist … Read more
For the first time that I’ve seen, the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) has published a public statement regarding DJI not cooperating on a timely basis in an accident investigation. I don’t believe an accident report has been released yet. But apparently, it has been at least a year. The UK AAIB statement says: … Read more
From the sounds of this post, a Matrice 300 augered in after receiving a couple of errors. The issue with many quadcopters is they are not designed to fly on three motors. We also don’t know the reliability of the motors being used. I’ve never seen any Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) data from manufacturers. … Read more
Up until now training flights by COA pilots that were engaged with non-federal entities have not been allowed under a COA. As of November 12, 2021, this has changed. Non-federal entities flying a UAS under a COA can now legally conduct limited training flights under the adjusted FAA interpretation. The limitation is the training flights … Read more
On August 10, 2021, near Markham in Ontario, Canada, a police drone was involved in an operation or investigation near the Buttonville Airport. Transportation officials stated the drone was flying in controlled airspace without authorization when the drone struck the Cessna 172 with two pilots aboard. One pilot was a flight instructor, and the second … Read more
In a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the NTSB made a statement that has confirmed my position that Airworthiness Certification will play a bigger role moving forward in drone operations. The NTSB said, “The NTSB believes that an updated definition is necessary given the changing UAS industry. Pursuant to section 44807 of the Federal Aviation Administration … Read more