Welcome to your weekly UAS news update. We have four stories for you this week: the FIFA World Cup wraps up with more than 700 drone seizures, wildfire drones are grounding firefighting aircraft in Spokane, the FAA rolls out a $9 million inspection grant, and DoorDash gets its drone delivery approval. So, let’s get to it.
The Largest Counter-Drone Operation in US History
The US Department of Transportation said it just ran the largest counter-drone operation in US history. More than 700 unauthorized drones were seized during the FIFA World Cup, with over 1,100 total detections across the 11 US host cities. Drones were also caught at fan zones, hotels, and training sites. The FAA set up nearly 250 temporary flight restrictions (TFRs), and ground intercept teams were stationed at venues to catch violators pretty fast.
This was not just confiscations. Federal prosecutors in Houston have filed criminal charges against four people for flying into restricted zones, and there are likely more in progress. Officials are calling this a blueprint for the 2028 LA Olympics, and the message for pilots is pretty simple: don’t fly in TFRs.
I do hope that there will be more information about all of the details. We’ve been getting some unofficially from folks that we know, but it would be great to see lessons learned and to help the FAA improve some of its processes, because I think some of these people were caught not 100% because of their own fault. Let’s just put it this way.
Wildfire Drones Are Grounding Firefighting Aircraft in Spokane
Speaking of TFRs, wildfires are burning through Spokane County, Washington. You may have seen the images, and drone pilots, unfortunately, are making it worse. If you’re not familiar, these fires have destroyed 700 structures already and forced over 65,000 people to evacuate. The sheriff’s office counted at least 26 drone incursions into the fire flight restrictions in just three days. That’s not good.
It’s currently unclear how these detections are happening, but at least four of these drones allegedly flew into the path of firefighting aircraft. One incursion on August 3 also grounded all 35 aircraft that were firefighting while homes were actively burning, which is very, very maddening.
Only two operators have been cited so far. Keep in mind that federal penalties here can exceed $20,000 and up to a year in prison. And remember to check tfr.faa.gov before every single one of your flights, especially if you live in one of those areas. And as always, just don’t be that guy.
A $9 Million Grant for Drone Infrastructure Inspections
In the third story this week, the Department of Transportation just posted a new grant forecast: $9 million for agencies that want to inspect bridges, dams, and roads with drones. Applications open in September and close on November 15, and five awards are expected.
Since December of last year, federal funds cannot be used to buy and operate Chinese-made drones — or even foreign-made drones. That decision grounded hundreds of state government drone fleets overnight. State officials asked Congress for $50 million to replace all of the drones that were grounded. Congress authorized $12 million this year, and only $9 million is now actually getting funded.
If your agency relies on federal drone funding, this program is real money, but of course, it’s nowhere near close to the actual funding that is needed to replace the fleet that has been grounded.
DoorDash Air Gets Its Part 135 Approval
Last up, DoorDash just got its FAA Part 135 certification. That makes it the eighth company in the United States that is approved to run commercial drone delivery operations. The new program is called DoorDash Air. Instead of just partnering with drone companies like Wing or Flytrex, DoorDash is actually building its own aircraft and its own software to decide how each order gets delivered — whether by car, by robot, or by drone.
The company says that drone deliveries under 5 miles can arrive in under 25 minutes. DoorDash also says that its drones are American designed and built. Details on the actual aircraft are still under wraps, but with more coming later this year, we’ll definitely keep you updated when we see and hear more about all of this.
As always, the conversation continues on Post Flight, our uncensored premium community, and we’ll see you on Monday for the live Q&A. In the meantime, have a great weekend and stay away from wildfires, TFRs, and all of the above.
You can watch the full episode on the Pilot Institute YouTube channel and find more of my coverage on my DroneXL author page.
