Drone News – Tue June 9, 2020

Here are today's most important drone news articles. We publish this post every weekday at 5:30 p.m. Some of these stories are from DroneXL.co and some of them will be from other sources. If you'd like to receive this in an email going forward, be sure to subscribe using the form below.

Drone news from DroneXL.co

Booz Allen Hamilton finds no unauthorized data transfer from DJI drones – A study from Booz Allen Hamilton in partnership with PrecisionHawk concludes there has not been any unauthorized data transfer from DJI drones, that were previously used by the US government, to the Chinese drone maker or government. You can download the executive summary of the report here.

Police drone collides with police helicopter in mid-air in Canada – A police drone collides with a police helicopter in mid-air over a rural part of British Columbia, Canada in February. The drone was obliterated. The manned aircraft was damaged but was able to land safely. None of the three people on board were hurt, according to the Civilian Aviation Daily Occurrence Reporting System (CADORS).

NetChoice webinar about drone data security – Register now! – On Thursday there will be a webinar hosted by NetChoice that will cover drone data security. Among other people, DJI's vice president of policy and legal affairs, Brendan Schulman will be participating in this ‘Frank Conversation About Drone Data Security.' Register today for the webinar on Thursday, June 11, 2020, at 1 p.m. EDT.

DJI announces Father's Day Sale with discounts up to 31% – DJI just announced their Father's Day Sale with discounts of up to 31 percent, starting on June 12th and the Promotion will run until the 21st. Based on the image that is shown on the DJI website, we can expect to see discounts on the DJI. Mavic Mini, the DJI Mavic 2 Series, and the Ronin Gimbal series.

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Other drone news

Spectacular drone footage captures thousands of turtles nesting – Researchers have captured beautiful aerial footage of thousands of green turtles congregating on the edge of Australia's Great Barrier Reef during the nesting season. Scientists from Queensland Government's Department of Environment and Science (DES) captured the footage using a drone at the world's largest green turtle rookery at Raine Island, a vegetated coral cay approximately 620 kilometers (385 miles) northwest of Cairns.

Teen drone champ finds freedom in the sky – In this new world of quarantine and isolation, sometimes we have to search for freedom. Fifteen-year-old Daniel Walston found his in the air. Through the eyes of a tiny drone.

Man charged with repeatedly flying drone near MINDEF protected base, taking photos with it – Singapore: A man is accused of flying a drone over a protected Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) base seven times and taking pictures of the protected Gombak Base on several of these occasions. Neo Wei Ren, 35, was charged on Tuesday (Jun 9) with 16 counts under the Air Navigation Act and Air Navigation Order, including taking photos of a protected area with his drone, flying a drone without the required permit and flying a drone over a protected area.

‘Flying taxi' drone that can travel at 80 miles per hour shown off in China – A drone big enough to carry human passengers was demonstrated in Guangzhou, China this week, and company behind it, EHang, hopes it will eventually work like the flying taxis promised by science fiction. According to to the company's site, the eHang 216 has a top speed of 80 miles per hour and is autonomous, receiving signals via a 4G or 5G phone network from a command and control center. It can carry up to 485 pounds and has a range of up to 20 miles.

The Mavic Air 2 Is Definitely the Drone I Was Looking For – Yes, I know. Starting a blog by paraphrasing Obi Wan's famous words isn't very imaginative, but put down your torches and give me a few minutes to explain why, for once, this phrase is appropriate. I also didn't know that I was looking for a Mavic Air 2…until I tried it out.

Drone interrupts efforts to fight Bighorn Fire – TUCSON, Ariz. — Crews fighting the Bighorn Fire were forced to shut down air operations Monday due to a drone flying in the area. While the consequences of the interference remain to be seen, the Coronado National Forest is reminding the public to not fly drones in the area of an active wildfire.

Pentagon Has Tested A Suicide Drone That Gets To Its Target Area At Hypersonic Speed – The Pentagon tested a loitering munition, more commonly referred to as a suicide drone, last year that will arrive over its designated target area at hypersonic speeds. It has since turned the project over to the U.S. Army for further development. Additional details about the program, dubbed Vintage Racer, have now emerged in an official picture showing Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy discussing it, as well as other advanced weapon systems.

Drone fighter planes ‘being programmed for mid-air dog fights against human pilots' – Drone fighter planes capable of thinking for themselves in mid-air dog fights against enemy human pilots are being developed by US military researchers. Autonomous aircraft equipped with artificial intelligence and pre-programmed with vast hours of training time are being readied to test against real-life Top Guns in fighter jets as early as next year, according to a US general's email exchange with a senior military scientist.

Multiple San Diego County Police Agencies Are Monitoring Protests With Drones – While law enforcement agencies are eager for a birds-eye view of protests, using drones in this way comes at a time of heightened anxiety over police power, as well as fears of technology stifling people's right to protest.

Elite police squad brought in after drone helicopters cause chaos at Prestwick Airport – Police are probing three incidents where the drones encroached the protected zone at the Airport. Drone helicopters have buzzed Prestwick Airport on at least three occasions. There is little commercial and no passenger aircraft coming in and out at the moment. But police are taking the incidents seriously, with an elite squad brought in to investigate. Border Policing Command is probing three incidents where the drones encroached the protected zone at the airport. There is no suggestion any of them were part of a deliberate attack on the airport. It is almost certainly the actions of people who had no idea they were breaking the law.

Drone footage shows suspected runaway driver hiding on roof of Asda in West Bridgford – ‘Between the dog and the drone it was pretty clear he had no means of escape so he gave himself up'.This footage captured by a drone shows a police dog sniffing out a suspected runaway driver who was attempting to hide on the roof of Asda in West Bridgford.

Texas State awarded $280K grant to use drones to locate human remains – Forensic anthropologists at Texas State University have been awarded $280,000 to explore the pros and cons of using drones to locate and identify human remains. The U.S. Department of Justice awarded the grant to the Forensic Anthropology Center at Texas State (FACTS) for use on a two-year project. One initial challenge is documenting the ways Drone Technology – including infrared, hyperspectral and multispectral imaging – differs from what forensic anthropologists currently use.

Drone footage shows severe flooding in Venetian Isles during Tropical Storm Cristobal – NEW ORLEANS – New drone footage taken as Tropical Storm Cristobal approached land shows severe flooding in the Venetian Isles neighborhood. The video was shot by a WGNO viewer around noon on June 7, while Cristobal was still several hours away from landfall. However, a storm surge pushed by the slow-moving system combined with a high tide swamped Venetian Isles and closed down Highway 90 well before Cristobal arrived.

Drones aid investigation into cause of Moray house fire which killed 91-year-old woman – Emergency services were called to Clark Street in Hopeman at about 4.30pm on Sunday and continued to battle the flames until the early hours of yesterday morning. Yesterday, fire crews launched an investigation into the cause of the devastating blaze. Drones were used by police officers to look inside the home due to the structure being too unsafe for personnel to enter.

We Mapped Where Customs and Border Protection Drones Are Flying in the U.S. and Beyond – In 2011, Rodney Brossart, a cattle rancher from Lakota, North Dakota was accused of stealing six cows. The cows, he said, simply wandered on to his 3,000-acre farm, and by his estimation, they, therefore, belonged to him. When the cops came, he and his family were prepared. Armed with high power rifles, they engaged in a 16-hour standoff with police.

Morning Report: Police Drones Are Watching Protesters – Police agencies across the county, state and nation have drawn intense scrutiny for the ways in which they've responded to recent protests, including by deploying violent force. But, as VOSD contributor Jared Whitlock reveals in a new story, local police agencies are responding in another way, too: They're deploying drones to protests to keep tabs on who's there and what's unfolding. The Carlsbad Police Department and Escondido Police Department both acknowledged using drones to monitor protests over police violence. Other departments declined to say whether they were using drones; some said they had not.

AOC Wants to Know Why the Hell a Predator Drone Was Spying on Protesters – The military-grade Predator B drone was far outside the 100-mile operational zone of Customs and Border Protection. House Democrats are furious over the deployment of a military-grade Predator B drone to surveil protesters in Minneapolis and possibly elsewhere. And a group of lawmakers including New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D) are demanding answers. The Trump administration had no right to send the drone over Minneapolis on May 29 because the city is far outside the 100-mile inland operational zone of the Customs and Border Protection, the Democrats wrote in a letter to Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf, released Saturday. Now they want to know where else drones might have gone, and whether any were using facial recognition software to monitor protesters demonstrating against police violence.

Drone footage captures shocking wind turbine damage after propeller explodes – Wind turbines have become commonplace in North America, as well as other parts of the world, in our quest for a clean energy alternative to fossil fuels and nuclear power. We have yet to find the perfect solution that addresses the concerns of all. It is a difficult balance between environmental impact, financial costs, and the impacts on our health. This wind farm is a rare example of what can happen when the physical stresses placed on one of these giant propeller blades result in a explosion and fragmentation of the massive blades.

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