Public Safety Drone News

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) today selected five host airports to evaluate technologies and systems that could detect and mitigate potential safety risks posed by unmanned aircraft. The effort is part of the agency’s Airport Unmanned Aircraft Systems Detection and Mitigation Research Program. The FAA selected the following airports: Atlantic City International Airport in Atlantic City, New Jersey Syracuse Hancock …

Drones have been around for many decades, but this latest drone is truly out of this world. The NASA Ingenuity drone is currently tucked away on the bottom of the Perseverence rover that recently landed on Mars. When this drone takes flight, it will be limited to a bit less flight time than we have to deal with. The total …

This is one of the most open and honest messages you will see from a thermal camera manufacturer. FLIR says, “Finding a hiker lost in the woods is a challenging mission—if the person is lost in densely forested terrain, then sunlight is largely blocked by trees and other vegetation, and the ground reflects very little light. Because of this, thermal …

Just announced. The new rules for flight over people has a new effective date of March 16, 2021 from March 1, 2021. “The Agency has decided to delay until March 16, 2021, the effective date of the final rule, Operation of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Over People (RIN 2120-AK85), including the amendments to §§ 107.61, 107.63, 107.65, 107.73, and 107.74.” …

A second FAA licensed pilot is facing criminal charges after flying inside the TFR for the Super Bowl. The other day I wrote about this other pilot who was charged. The second pilot is identified as Kevin Jonathan Canty, 33, of West Palm Beach, Florida. According to ABC News, “According to the complaint, FBI agents saw a drone flying Saturday …

An alleged FAA certificated UAS pilot, Henry Jimenez, was arrested and charged by federal authorities for violating a number of Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR). If convicted, Jimenez could face up to one year in federal prison. Jimenez was observed by FBI agents flying his drone in the Tampa TFR, approximately 3.5 miles from the Super Bowl stadium. The pilot was …

I’m a big fan of Tesla and the bleeding edge cars they produce. In fact, I just bought one. But I was overjoyed to read that one of the smart engineers at Tesla has made the leap and joined the drone delivery company Zipline. Now former Tesla Engineering Director Joseph Mardall recently announced: “After 10 wonderful years at Tesla, I’m …

A great reader sent in this advice and permitted me to share it. His department has been dealing with DJIbattery issues now, but the advice applies to all pilots flying rechargeable batteries. I wrote about DJI battery problems before and shared what the official language said about dealing with battery problems. Read What Should I Do About My Swelling Drone …

The Operation of Unmanned Aircraft Systems Over People Final Rule is the next incremental step towards further integration of unmanned aircraft (UA) in the National Airspace System. The final rule allows routine operations over people and routine operations at night under certain circumstances. The rule will eliminate the need for those operations to receive individual Part 107 waivers from the …

The Remote Identification of Unmanned Aircraft Final Rule is the next incremental step towards further integration of Unmanned Aircraft (UA) in the National Airspace System. In its most basic form, remote identification can be described as a “digital license plate” for UA. Remote ID is necessary to address aviation safety and security issues regarding UA operations in the National Airspace …