Welcome to your weekly UAS news update. We have three stories for you this week: a Colorado drone pilot facing federal charges after grounding wildfire aircraft, a possible U.S. ban on imports of some military-grade drones, and the National Press Photographers Association pushing back on the FAA’s Section 2209 rule. Let’s get to it.
Hey folks, it’s Ben. Greg will return in the next update, but this week Pilot Institute is in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, for EAA AirVenture. If you’ve never been, it’s a really cool event with thousands of aircraft on display, air shows, workshops, and Pilot Institute. Greg and the team will be there through Sunday, July 26, and would love to see you in person.
Colorado drone pilot faces federal charges after grounding wildfire aircraft
A drone pilot in southern Colorado is facing federal charges after allegedly flying into the temporary flight restriction over the Aspen Acres fire near Rye on Friday, July 17, grounding every helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft working the fire.
That fire has burned more than 100,000 acres and is the largest wildfire currently active in Colorado. In case you didn’t know, once a drone is detected, every aircraft on the fire has to stop flying.
Investigators also did not have to work too hard to find this one. According to Ben, the pilot posted the flight on social media, and the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office used that footage to identify the suspect. Civil penalties can exceed $75,000.
Remember, don’t be that guy. Check the TFRs before you fly, and don’t fly near wildfires. We have covered how often these incursions happen before in our earlier wildfire drone-incursion coverage, and the rule has not changed: if firefighting aircraft are working, stay out.
FCC opens comment on possible restrictions for some foreign-made drones
The FCC announced two drone supply-chain actions this week, but the one that matters most for equipment is a new request for public comment asking whether the commission should prohibit the import, marketing, or sale of certain military-grade foreign-made drones already on its covered list.
The categories under consideration include swarming drones, drones designed to carry defense articles, thermal imaging drones, drones with lidar sensing, drones capable of dispensing aerosols classified as economic poison under FAA rules, drone docking stations, and any drone weighing 55 pounds or more.
Several things would be excluded from any such ban, including equipment not on the covered list, equipment sold for federal government use or for commercial testing and product development, and any drones people already own. Separately, the FCC extended its exceptions for trusted drones, with the Blue UAS and Buy America carve-outs now running through January 1, 2028, and conditional-approval products losing their expiration date entirely.
Comments on the proposed prohibition are due 30 days after the notice is published in the Federal Register, so please comment to make your voice heard. If you want more context on where this line of thinking could lead, read our earlier breakdown of how an FCC import cutoff could expand.
NPPA pushes back on the FAA’s Section 2209 rule
The National Press Photographers Association has filed comments on the FAA’s proposed Section 2209 rule, which would let critical infrastructure sites apply for permanent drone flight restrictions called UAFRs.
The FAA has identified about 125,000 candidate facilities in total and expects around 9,000 applications over the next five years. The NPPA’s complaint is straightforward. As written, these restrictions could last forever with no expiration date, no public record of why they exist, and no way to challenge one.
If you fly drones, the comment deadline is August 5, 2026. Be sure to check out our full discussion of the proposed Section 2209 rule for the broader details and timeline.
No Post Flight this week, but we will still have a Monday live Q&A with guest host Vic Moss. Hope to see you there. Have a good weekend.
This article is based on a video by Pilot Institute on YouTube. Greg Reverdiau is a regular contributor to DroneXL.
