Latest Drones Headlines

All the headlines from our Drones Topic Page, ordered by recency.

FAA Hopes to Send Message with $1.9 Million Penalty Against Drone Photographer

Oct 7 2015 // The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is proposing the largest fine to date against a drone operator as the agency cracks down on the booming use of unmanned aircraft in congested skies over populated areas. The agency...

Zurich Canada Issues ‘White Paper’ on Drones & Risk Management

Sep 28 2015 // Zurich Canada has released a new white paper on unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), commonly referred to as drones at the Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS) Canada Conference in Québec City. Entitled,...

Violating Swedish Nuclear Drone Ban Will Land You in Jail, Void Insurance Cover

Sep 18 2015 // If you’re planning a drone fly-by at any of Sweden’s reactors, think again. The Nordic region’s biggest producer of atomic energy will from Oct. 15 add nuclear plants to a list of sites including airports...

Drone Services Firm Names USAA Advisor Swain as VP of Insurance

Sep 16 2015 // A company that specializes in putting drones to work for companies has hired an advisor from USAA Insurance to be its vice president of insurance. The Washington, D.C.-based drone service firm, Measure, announced the...

Kentucky Student Charged After Drone Crashes into Stadium

Sep 14 2015 // University of Kentucky campus police have charged law student Peyton Wilson with second degree wanton endangerment for operating a drone that crashed into a section of Commonwealth Stadium before the Wildcats’...

Officials Eye Sky Security After Drone Crashes Into Empty Seats at U.S. Open

Sep 8 2015 // A drone crash during a U.S. Open match has tennis officials thinking about whether they can do more to safeguard the sprawling National Tennis Center from such hazards, a spokesman said. “Obviously, it’s...

John Steinbeck, Boeing Drone, Jimi Hendrix, Ford Car: Intellectual Property News

Aug 21 2015 // Rightscorp Inc., the company that identifies infringers to copyright holders, said in a company filing that it now has contracts covering about 208,000 copyrights. That’s more than twice the 100,000 copyrights the...

Drone Growth Threatened by Cyber, Human Error, Privacy Concerns: Lloyd’s Report

Aug 20 2015 // “Cyber-attacks, reckless pilots and privacy breaches are fundamental threats to the drone industry.” That’s the overall conclusion of a new report published by Lloyd’s, entitled “Drones Take...

Congress May Move to Slow Illegal Drones

Aug 17 2015 // U.S. lawmakers are considering steps to reverse a disturbing rise in illegal drone flights, including new government enforcement tools to crack down on rogue flyers, especially near airports, according to people familiar...

Plane-Drone Encounters to Top 1,000 This Year: FAA

Aug 13 2015 // Pilot encounters with drones are on pace to at least quadruple to more than 1,000 this year, highlighting a growing threat to U.S. aviation by unmanned aircraft. There were 650 cases reported to the Federal Aviation...

Increase in Drones Near Airports Prompts Calls for Tighter Regulation

Aug 10 2015 // A significant increase in close encounters between passenger aircraft and drones is prompting demands from U.S. lawmakers for tighter regulation and enforcement to avoid a fatal collision. Pilots on four airliners spotted...

West Virginia Purchases Second Drone to Assess Natural Disaster Damage

Aug 6 2015 // West Virginia’s Department of Transportation has purchased its second drone. The Charleston Gazette reports that the $3,500 drone will be used to help provide views of hard-to-reach or inaccessible areas. Department...

Insurers Warned to ‘Think Before You Snap’ as Florida Drone Privacy Law Takes Flight

Jul 29 2015 // The new Florida drone privacy law could have some unintended consequences for insurers looking to use or insure unmanned aircraft systems (UAM) technology. The Freedom from Unwarranted Surveillance Act (FUSA), which took...

Tech Firms Collaborating to Make Drone Air Traffic Safe

Jul 28 2015 // Google Inc., the company that brought order to the Internet, has set its sights on doing the same for the flocks of commercial drones expected to someday clog the skies. The search-engine pioneer is joining some of the...

Texas Flood Responders Being Trained in Drone Technology

Jul 27 2015 // Drone technology training is part of a Texas A&M University seminar for emergency responders dealing with deadly flooding like the disastrous May storms. The 2015 Summer Institute on Flooding takes place at...

Drone Coverage: Into the Great Unknown

Jul 27 2015 // Insurance Services Office (ISO) recently released a “matched set” of drone-related endorsements for use with the commercial general liability (CGL) policy: three exclusionary endorsements and three...

London’s IUA Supports Coordinated, International Approach to Drone Regulation

Jul 22 2015 // A coordinated, international approach to the regulation of aviation drones is essential for the technology to thrive, said the International Underwriting Association (IUA), which represents wholesale re/insurance companies...

Drone Supporters Clash with Georgia Over Capitol Airspace Ban

Jul 14 2015 // Drone enthusiasts are calling a ban on the unmanned vehicles within five miles of Georgia’s Capitol an overreach of authority by state officials, while agency officials argue the change is necessary and follows...

FAA Approving 250 Drone Permits a Month Without Final Rules

Jul 9 2015 // The Federal Aviation Administration is issuing permits for the commercial use of drones at a rate of about 250 a month as it tries to meet the growing demand for unmanned aircraft while it develops rules for their...

U.S. Vows Commercial Drone Rules Within a Year

Jun 18 2015 // U.S. commercial drone operations could take flight on a large scale by this time next year, as federal regulators finalize rules allowing widespread unmanned aerial system use by companies, according to congressional...