DJI Says Getting Rid of No-Fly Zones Will Aid Emergency Services
DJI has shed more light on its decision to get rid of “No-Fly Zones” saying it believes removing geofencing is vital for emergency services who rely on drones for their work.
The Verge interviewed DJI head of global policy Adam Welsh and DJI public safety integration director Wayne Baker this week who tell the tech publication that lawmakers not enforcing no-fly zones contributed to the company’s decision to put the onus back on pilots when it comes to flying responsibly.
“Your Cessna [plane] does not prevent you from flying anywhere. It’s the pilot’s responsibility to know where they’re legally allowed to fly. So the same principle would apply to an operator of a drone. It is their legal responsibility to fly where they have been given permission,” says Welsh.
Welsh says that it was DJI’s own decision to enforce geofencing 10 years ago but explains that the sysytem was flawed anyway because it was possible to disable the GPS. He points to first responders not being able to fly in certain areas immediately because of the restrictions.
“We have so many documented instances of drones deescalating an active shooter situation or finding a child that’s on the verge of hypothermia or so many other things, that, for us, making sure that we’re not delaying to the point where one of those instances escalates into loss of life — that’s the key thing,” Welsh tells The Verge.
During the L.A. wildifres, a drone collided with a Super Scooper water dumping plane that was actively fighting the Pacific Palisades fire near Santa Monica. It was only days after that DJI announced it was removing geofencing which seems like strange timing however the company did tell The Verge that it assisted the FBI in its incident investigation; providing the email address and shipping information of the owner.
Impending Ban
Much like TikTok, DJI is facing a ban in the United States and the company is awaiting a government agency to be assigned to determine whether it poses a national security risk. There is a deadline of about 12 months meaning DJI could be banned in December 2025. Welsh calls the the ticking time clock “unfair” and says it could be put on the FCC’s covered list which would prevent it from launching new products.
“We wouldn’t be able to get the certifications we need for new products,” explains Welsh. “So you’d be in kind of a perverse situation where the current Mavic model would continue to be on sale in the U.S., but a newer model would be available in Canada and Mexico and everywhere else in the world.”
Welsh says a ban on DJI would affect an estimated 400,000 jobs which rely upon DJI gear as well as decimating American resellers.
Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.
