Photo: Kara Murphy |
After a few days a news came out drone collision With firefighting aircraft working to control wildfires in California, DJI announced that it will no longer enforce its no-fly zone, because reported by petapixelThe company shared the news in a blog postSaying that the update is as follows uniform change Implemented in the European Union last year.
For more than a decade, DJI drone pilots have been somewhat limited in where they could fly drones, as the company’s software automatically barred users from flying over areas like active runways, power plants, the White House and wildfires. Will give. These areas were defined as restricted areas, although they were commonly called no-fly zones, and they were the result of DJI geofencing datasets in the company’s flight apps.
DJI claims that user awareness has evolved, suggesting that such limitations are no longer needed.
Now, DJI is removing those geofencing datasets and will display advanced warning zones instead. DJI says it is “consistent with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) designated areas” and “consistent with the regulatory principles of the operator bearing ultimate responsibility, putting control back in the hands of drone operators.” Instead of relying on “ICAO Contract 14 configurations for airspace around airports,” which the company says “does not always align with official FAA data,” it now uses data officially provided by the regulator. Will use the limits imposed.
DJI says that when it first implemented the GEO system in 2013, it did so because rules and regulations were sparse since consumer drones were new at the time. It says the system was installed as a voluntary built-in safety feature to “promote responsible flight practices and prevent DJI drone operators from inadvertently flying over restricted airspace such as government buildings, airports or prisons.” Was.”
“The GEO system has always been an educational – not enforcement – ​​tool”
DJI claims that user awareness has evolved, suggesting that such limitations are no longer needed. In a follow up blog postThe company says the geofencing tool was always meant to educate users about the law rather than enforce it, and emphasizes that “warning zones and in-app alerts remain in place.”
It also said the change could make things easier for commercial operators and “public safety agencies”, as they would no longer need to wait for manual approval from DJI before being able to fly over restricted areas. has been allowed to work in,
However, drone incidents are still clearly a problem, as shown by last week’s Superscooper airplane attack. While that drone was a sub-250-gram model – made by DJI Photos released by FBI – and thus is not subject to the remote ID regulations governing no-fly zones, highlighting significant safety concerns due to poor understanding of flight safety.
This is a notable change in drone safety strategy with potentially huge implications, especially among drone pilots who are less aware of airspace restrictions and high-risk areas. https://t.co/YJOpe2gcZe
– Brendan Shulman (@dronelaws) 14 January 2025
Even Brendan Schulman, DJI’s former head of global strategy, doesn’t think it’s a wise move, because The Verge sharedShulman shared many things post on x (formerly Twitter) about how this could be problematic. Another user shared The DJI Fly app says that their drone can take off from Runway 27L at Philadelphia Public Airport, which definitely wouldn’t be a good situation.
Image: DJI |
Even though it was a good move, the new process went live on January 13. To see the changes, users need to connect their Flight app to the internet and select “Update” on the FlySafe pop-up notification.