Drone Industry Loses a Major Player, Bill Would Allow Shooting Drones, DJI Mavic 4 Leaks

We have three stories for you this week: the Industrie des drones loses a major player, a Texas bill that would allow drones to be shut down, and lastly, the DJI Mavic 4 leaks.

Industry Pioneer and Public Safety Visionary Passes Away

A sad first story: industry pioneer and public safety visionary Romeo Durscher has sadly passed away this week. Romeo was a pioneer of drones for public safety with the mantra “Des drones pour le bien.” He worked for DJI as their Director of Public Safety Integration, where he led and assisted departments in getting started with drones. In 2018, the Camp Fire in California destroyed an entire town. Romeo led 15 drone teams to create high-definition maps of over 177,000 acres in the days that followed the incident. He said, “After Santa Rosa, I thought I’d seen it all; then came Paradise. It’s beyond what one could imagine.” This was just one of the many ways Romeo helped cultivate drones in the public safety world.

Romeo then moved on from DJI to Auterion, where he pushed to ensure that public safety could use the best tools possible for their mission. Earlier this year, Romeo was given the Law Enforcement Drone Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award. He was also named one of the 25 most influential people in the drone industry and received the Golden Medal from the Estonian Chamber of Commerce. Haye from DroneXL.co put it best:

“Romeo Durscher’s passing leaves a big void, but his vision soars on. The drone industry stands at a crossroads, poised for growth yet challenged by regulation and ethics. Romeo showed us the way—technology must serve a purpose, not profit alone.”

Texas Bill Proposes Drone Shot Downs Over Private Property

Next up, a Texas bill would allow drones to be shot down if they’re flown over private property. There are several issues with this bill, as you can imagine, starting with 18 USC 32. This law protects civil aircraft both in the air and on the ground.

It states, “Whoever willfully sets fire to, damages, destroys, disables, or wrecks any aircraft in the special aircraft jurisdiction of the États-Unis or any civil aircraft used, operated, or employed in interstate, overseas, or foreign air commerce” is in violation.

We also know how poor people are at identifying aircraft, with several of the New Jersey “drones” actually being airliners and smaller aircraft. Not to mention, what goes up must come down. So, if you’re in Texas, please reach out to your state legislature and let them know this is a really bad idea.

DJI Mavic 4 Leaks Reveal Innovative Features

Finally, DJI Mavic 4 leaks: DroneXL.co and Jasper Ellens are reporting a new rumor that the Mavic 4 will be able to roll the gimbal up to 180° in both directions. You heard that right—roll! That’s kind of interesting and not something we’ve seen on any drone so far, other than the Inspire series. This would mean you could take native vertical shots with all lenses and even have the ability to record videos upside down. This could make for some quite interesting footage, I think. We’ll have to wait and see.

We’ll see you on Monday for the live next week. There will be no Friday live as we are getting ready to move into our new building. New sets and new looks are coming out very soon. Have a great week!