DJI Removes Geofencing on its Drone Fly Apps

[@eddu4361]

But happily most droners do use their brains and fly in a safe or very low risk manner.

[@IDrone-l5m]

Now, consider this. People that fly drones get into problems. Get sued for all of their possessions after flying into a baby carriage. The US legal system has received tens of millions of dollars as a result of these drones. They therefore do a fantastic job of keeping the money flowing. To keep attorneys' BMW payments up to date.

[@ChristopherDye-b3l]

Since the government wasn’t interested in geofencing. They wanted remoteID so they got it. 100% the government’s fault. Maybe they should have worked with DJI instead of threatening them?

[@basspig]

I thought the Restriction was in the Drone firmware not the app.

[@FalconImagery]

It’s in the fly app. Next time you turn on your controller you will be prompted to do an update to the app

[@basspig]

@@FalconImagery Thanks. Updating it now. 952MB. Also says optimize performance of Crystal Sky in high temp environments. Maybe my $1000 display that I bought for this will stop having crashes in the middle of flight. This version update is 4.3.16.

[@RB-ie9wf]

That’s disturbing. Pretending that mostly unlicensed anonymous drone operators will do the “right thing” is disingenuous at best. I wonder aircraft insurance is going to add an “uninsured drone operator” premium.

[@TheSportFlyer-xy6sn]

I'm wondering if this change is coming from a litigation standpoint: with geofencing, the pilot who flies over an airport can say "hey, the software should have stopped me from flying there", e.g. play dumb. Now, the decision to fly anywhere rests solely on the pilot. I'm not sure if I'm explaining my reasoning well (not a layer), but my thinking is analogous to the "beware of dog" paradox, where the owner of a dog that bites someone may be more at risk if he has a 'beware of dog' sign (because the sign demonstrates that the owner is aware that the dog will bite).

[@DonnieCulver-d8w]

I hope FAA ramps up enforcement quick, and makes it public. Otherwise, their only option will be to tighten regulations. Eventually, this will hurt us who make a living flying drones. My hope is they will simply require 107 for everyone who fly any drone.

[@FalconImagery]

The FAA has the TRUST program for recreational drone fliers, however, I agree I think everyone needs to take a Part 107 course and then pass the FAA Part 107 knowledge exam before they can fly a drone. The skies are rapidly getting more complicated with increased drone sales and manned aircraft travel, and to have people flying drones without any knowledge of the National Air Space, and the procedures for obtaining ATC permission to fly a drone in controlled airspace, is a recipe for multiple disasters.

[@DonnieCulver-d8w]

A short multiple-choice quiz that is correctable to 100% is not going to be enough now. Hopefully, 107 requirements will come in to play before tightening airspace.

[@johncgibson4720]

How about requiring DJI to set up a tracking server on US soil to track all its drones' locations? Their drones report their locations every few seconds, and pilots already use iPhones/Androids to view their drone's flying perspective (FPV). This might cut a few dollars off their profit per drone, but it would not be a big cut to the expensive Matrices.

[@FalconImagery]

They had something called aeroscope that they sold to companies and government facilities to purchase to be able to monitor all DJI drones within a certain radius. Regardless if they had remote id working or not. And then suddenly in 2023 they took it off the market

[@fishwomanyvr]

but not in canada