DJI Drags Feet Providing Accident Assistance to Investigators

A Drone Crash Experience From The Pilot’s Point Of View

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

DJI Pulls the Plug on Your Big Drone Investments and Leaves You Hanging

What Are Your Thoughts On The New Dji Matrice 300 Rtk? – Ask Steve

May 24, 2021 – See my update at the bottom of this post. My condolences to your investment in DJI products costing tens of thousands of dollars. The plug has been officially pulled by DJI on a number of products. This has been a problem brewing for at least a year. My advice was to … Read more

Wake Forest Fire Department UAS Search and Rescue Flight Debriefing

Wake Forest Fire Department Uas Search And Rescue Flight Debriefing

Around 3:30 on 1-29-2018 Wake Forest Fire Department drone was requested to participate in the search for a missing Rocky Mount resident, Stephen Miller (70) who was last seen two days prior on Saturday according to the WRAL online story. Chief Ed Barrett and drone pilot Steve Rhode arrived in Rocky Mount at approximately 4:40 … Read more

Active Shooter Drone Flight Training and Video: Unexpected Outcome

Active Shooter Drone Flight Training And Video: Unexpected Outcome

The local police tactical unit and I recently conducted an active shooter drone flight exercise flying inside a big box store. These are large stores like Sam’s Club, Walmart, Best Buy, or even most major grocery stores. The DJI Matrice 210 is a larger Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) and what we learned from the exercise … Read more

Drone Water Rescue Flight With a Matrice 210

Drone Water Rescue Flight With A Matrice 210

Dispatch Call: Water Rescue What We Knew Headed to Call: It was reported a woman on a kayak had fallen out of the kayak and could not be seen. Aircraft: DJI Matrice 210 with Zenmuse XT FLIR and 180X Zenmuse Z30 cameras. UAS/Drone Actions: Upon arrival the most apparent optimum landing zone was not accessible … Read more

Drone Structure Fire Flight Creates Surprises and Lessons Learned

Drone Structure Fire Flight Creates Surprises And Lessons Learned

I’m hoping this will become somewhat of an ongoing series of articles about lessons learned from actual public safety UAS flying with the amazing Wake Forest Fire Department. A structure fire call came in for a home that had already been burning for some time and was fully involved when we were dispatched. I was … Read more

Human Location Isotherm Settings Using DJI FLIR XT Camera on a Matrice 210

Human Location Isotherm Settings Using Dji Flir Xt Camera On A Matrice 210

As the Wake Forest Fire Department UAS pilot, one of the issues I have to face is dealing with an unplanned event and flying the incident on short notice but provide optimum data gathering abilities and mission accomplishment. I wish my flights had the luxury of being on the schedule but when the call comes … Read more