Technology Is Making It Harder To Fly DJI Drones Into Planes

DJI is planning to attach a sensor on their drones so that they can detect airplanes and helicopters. Drone making company DJI announced that from 2020 any drone which is heavier than 250 grams will able to detect any aircraft and will alarm the pilot of the drone.

These drones will receive Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) signals that aircraft releases. The technology named AirSense will signal drone pilot about any airplanes from a distance, so the pilot can navigate it away from aircraft.

Last year a Helicopter Robinson R22 crashed outside of Charleston, South Carolina, later the student pilot, and an instructor in the helicopter said that they lost control of aircraft as they were trying to avoid a DJI Phantom quadcopter.

Brendan Schulman, DJI vice president for policy and legal affairs, said in the statement. “There has never been a confirmed collision between a drone and an airplane, but drones have struck low-flying helicopters at least twice.”