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With its track record in aviation safety and innovation, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) is one to watch when assessing the "barometer" of governmental AAM progress.

Thanks to a quick recovery of passenger traffic, the industry's focus can now shift to yet another transformative challenge ─ Advanced Air Mobility (AAM).

If you work in the drone industry, you probably know what a "commercial" drone is. It's a drone used for business, a drone used to make money.

A bit of an outlier, Florida Senate Bill 44 (2021), is now in force and as such drones made by DJI and Autel are out of bounds for Floridian emergency services.

More than 200 safety leaders from across the aviation industry met in specific breakout sessions Wednesday afternoon to discuss ways to enhance flight safety as part of the FAA's Aviation Safety Summit in McLean, Virginia. 

Pearland Police Department has been awarded a certificate of authorization (COA) to operate its drone as first responder (DFR) program beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operation, eliminating the need for human visual observers (VOs). This was achieved using Iris Automation's Casia G ground-based air surveillance system. 

The sold out DRONERESPONDERS National Public Safety UAS Conference kicked off today in Williamsburg VA, with an international guest list and a packed schedule of training and presentations.

The technology is already out in force in some cities, but the true debate on privacy and policies is lagging behind.

The city soundscape soon may be abuzz with a variety of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft ferrying passengers and cargo across dense urban centers high above the crowded streets below.

Funded in part by a grant from the North Central Texas Council of Governments, the infrastructure test platform will support research projects in mobility technologies including unmanned aerial vehicles, autonomous ground vehicles, mobile edge computing, public safety communications, and more.

Annual Drone Safety Day is Saturday, April 29, 2023 

A diverse set of robust facilities and capabilities that are likely to make major contributions to drone, eVTOL aircraft development, refinement of concepts of operations and airspace allocation over the next decade are based in the Hampton Roads, Virginia area on the east coast of the USA. The area hosts an eclectic mix of independent entities often working in partnership.

If the FBI thinks drones are a threat, why doesn't congress?

The second edition of CAP 722A released in December 2022 is intended to assist Applicants who are involved in the production of an Operational Risk Assessment (ORA) which will be used as supporting evidence for an application to the CAA for the operation of an Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) in the Specific Category.

NASA researchers recently completed a full-scale crash test of an electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) concept vehicle at the Landing and Impact Research (LandIR) facility at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.

Next Generation Aviation, both the passenger-less uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) and passenger-carrying Advanced Air Mobility (AAM), had a banner year in 2022 with announcements, approvals, certifications, new deployments, amazing statistics, and engagement from government stakeholders. Industry highlights included the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Beyond Visual Line of Sight Aviation Rule-making Committee (ARC) Report that focused on the necessity and opportunity for advanced operations at scale, the first airworthiness certifications in the United States, the expansion of drone delivery around the world, the adoption of Performance Based Regulations (PBR) in new countries, and, rumor has it, the recognition of new risk assessment methods for UAS by international regulators in SARPS out for review. So, it's that time of year once again to ask, "What's in store for next year?"

Rotor Technologies, Inc.'s prototype of a firefighting helicopter drone successfully executed its first flight on December 2, 2022 at the FAA's New York UAS test site after receiving experimental certification on November 30, 2022.

Public safety and critical infrastructure UAS consulting group Skyfire Consulting announced that it has successfully assisted Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) in acquiring a Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) waiver under a Part 107 for the entire state of California.

With the assistance of AeroX, the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office (FSCO) has launched North Carolina's first Drones as First Responders (DFR) program. The program has a drone operator listen in on live 911 calls to deploy a drone to the scene if necessary. The drone is then able to stream live video to responding deputies and the command center, granting increased situational awareness and informing the method of response. DFR have been proven to provide faster response times and improved safety for both residents and officers.

Airborne Response a leading provider of mission-critical aerial intelligence using small uncrewed aircraft systems (sUAS), has completed more than 500 drone flights in Florida on behalf of enterprise customers supporting response, relief, and recovery efforts in the aftermath of Category 4 Hurricane Ian.

Flylogix CEO Charles Tavner was invited to attend the recent Shell Aircraft Safety Seminar and Workshops in the Hague, along with safety subject matter experts, academics and executives from the energy and aviation industries.

The rapidly growing use of drones in industries and governments worldwide means that users are demanding more in terms of performance and productivity.

The U of A's Master of Science in Operations Management Program and Bentonville Schools collaborated to incorporate workforce education opportunities in advanced air mobility.

 Airspace Link, a leading drone safety infrastructure company, is announcing its participation in the FAA's UTM Field Test, a research project designed to evaluate the technology and standards being developed to help safely coordinate and prioritize drone flights as drone activity in low-altitude airspace ramps up. ("UTM" is short for UAS (drone) Traffic Management).

Skyfire Consulting (Skyfire) (skyfireconsulting.com), the most trusted and experienced public safety UAS consulting group, today announced it has officially partnered with DroneSense— maker of leading drone management and collaboration platform. This strategic partnership will allow both Skyfire and DroneSense to provide public safety agencies a complete Drone First Responder (DFR) package and help them smoothly navigate through the phases of starting a program.

In a company first, DroneShield has announced the sale and deployment of the DroneSentry counterdrone system at a U.S. international airport.

Several companies developing next generation technologies for drones exhibited their solutions at the fourth annual UAS Public Safety Summit last week. The summit was focused on applications related to public safety that enhance capabilities for law enforcement and first responders.

Virginia Tech has won its sixth major federal contract to lead research on an increasingly urgent question: How to safely manage drone traffic.

NASA and the FAA are working to revolutionize air traffic control for the drone era.

Law enforcement members from around the country were introduced to the practicality of unmanned aircraft systems by the Kansas State University Salina Aerospace and Technology Campus Applied Aviation Research Center team.

NASA has announced the formation of a partnership with DRONERESPONDERS for the research and development of automated safety processes and procedures that will allow for highly automated aviation response in the national airspace.

Skyfire Consulting (Skyfire) (skyfireconsulting.com), the most trusted and experienced public safety UAS consulting group, today announced it has helped secure Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) waivers, specifically for Drone First Responder (DFR) — a revolutionary means by which the deployment of drones enhances response to emergency situations and adds an element of safety for public safety agencies and the community—for three additional police departments around the country.

Seeking to maintain a comprehensive record of drone incursions on an international basis, Israel-based counter-drone technology provider D-Fend Solutions has launched the Drone Attack & Incident Tracker on its website. The database, which uses publicly available resources to track drone incursion incidents, includes the incident description, date, sector affected and the source of the information.

Essentium, Inc., a leading innovator of industrial additive manufacturing (AM) solutions, today announced Axle Box Innovations, a public safety technology developer, is using Essentium AM technology to support the development of US-made 3D printed drones for fire management and protection.

Essentium, Inc., a leading innovator of industrial additive manufacturing (AM) solutions, today announced Axle Box Innovations, a public safety technology developer, is using Essentium AM technology to support the development of US-made 3D printed drones for fire management and protection.

Red Cat Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: RCAT), a hardware-enabled software provider to the drone industry, announced today that it has completed research, development and production for a four-drone, multi-vehicle system for defense, government, and public safety markets.

Following its successful coordination of the recent First Responder Unmanned Aircraft System Triple Challenge, Kansas State University Salina Aerospace and Technology Campus has again been selected to lead an unmanned aircraft systems competition that will award prize money to winners.

Discussions around UAV technology tend to focus on the drones themselves and the accessories and software that enable them to make a difference in industries such as construction, public safety, and package delivery. But there's another critical element of the drone ecosystem that deserves attention: drone ports and docking systems.

The U.S. Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is launching a new prize competition series to advance the use of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) by first responders for indoor search and rescue operations. 

High-quality digital tools for 3D geolocation are helping to unlock the full potential of next-generation transit systems, enabling increased efficiency in all phases of action while improving safety and the end-user experience.

Romeo Durscher, VP of Public Safety at open source drone platform Auterion is a drone industry hero, paving the way for drone use in emergency response and public safety.  In a DRONELIFE Exclusive interview from the floor of AUVSI's Xponential 2022, Durscher says that an open source drone platform like Auterion's is all about giving manufacturers the opportunity to innovate, giving customers the widest range of choice, and ultimately improving the entire workflow of commercial drone use.

Police in North Texas using drone-based technology to save officers', civilians' lives with Drone Clear

AUVSI's Xponential 2022, taking place next week in Orlando, FL at the beautiful Orlando Convention Center.  The show will be the first big international drone show since pandemic restrictions have (mostly) lifted, and the schedule and the show floor are both packed.

This drone interceptor is designed to catch light UAVs. High power-to-weight ratio is a competitive advantage of this concept. It allows the drone to fly fast.

Pierce Aerospace announced a partnership with Vigilant Aerospace Systems today to integrate Pierce Aerospace's Flight Portal Remote ID technologies into Vigilant's FlightHorizon airspace management and flight safety products.

Pierce Aerospace, of Indianapolis, announced a partnership with Vigilant Aerospace Systems today to integrate Pierce Aerospace's Flight Portal Remote ID technologies into Vigilant's FlightHorizon airspace management and flight safety products.

The following is a guest post by Christopher Todd, President of the AUVSI Florida Peninsula Chapter and the Executive Director of AIRT, Inc., the nation's leading 501(c)3 non-profit organization supporting drones for emergency use and official home of DRONERESPONDERS.  DRONELIFE neither accepts nor makes payment for guest posts.

Texas-based SkyeBrowse, a company that employs video technology in the public safety arena, will receive a portion of a major grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to develop drone-based technology that will help first responders react to an active-shooter situation and other threats to schools and other buildings.

Vigilant Aerospace Detect and Avoid Drone Safety System Wins NASA's Commercial Invention of the Year Award

The Unmanned Aerial Systems industry has been clear that the #1 factor holding back growth is a lack of clarity. Through FAA programs like Data Exchange and UAS Service Suppliers (USSes), the federal government is meeting its commitments to support the industry with regulations addressing operations in controlled airspace. Now, Virginia is helping to provide clarity at the state and local levels.