Drone News: Autel Fights Back Against FCC, MI House Passes Two Drone Bills, Thermal Drone Saves Life

Welcome to your weekly UAS News Update. We have three stories for you this week; Autel fights back against the FCC's Covered List, the Michigan House passes two drone procurement bills while stalling on airspace restrictions, a drones-for-good story where a thermal drone saves a life in freezing temperatures. Let's get to it.

And first up this week, Autel Robotics has filed a reply with the FCC, arguing that their addition to the Covered List is based on secret evidence and allegations that were actually aimed at DJI. Autel claims they were never given a chance to see the classified material used against them, which they argue violates their Fifth Amendment right to due process. What's really interesting here is that Autel is finally putting their technical operations on the public record. They stated under oath that their flight data is stored locally by default and isn't automatically uploaded to company servers. They also specified that their drone communications and stored data use AES-128 or AES-256 encryption, and that no third party has access to their software. We’ll be watching this closely. Next up, let's talk about some state-level regulations. The Michigan House just passed two out of the 15 bills in the SHIELD Michigan drone package. House Bills 5329 and 5331 both focus on procurement. They basically stop state agencies from using state funds to buy drones from companies on federal concern lists, like the DOD's 1260H list. But here's the real story for you as a Part 107 or recreational pilot. The other 13 bills didn't pass. Those were the bills that had us really worried about federal preemption. They included things like criminal penalties for flying over critical infrastructure, giving local police the authority to shoot down or disable drones, and even a mandatory state-run geofencing app. Seeing those 13 bills stall in the House is a huge win for our drone industry. And there’s still time to fight the other two, as the bills now go to the Senate for consideration. If you’re in Michigan, make your voice heard by reaching out to your State Senator! Last up, the Corman Park Police Service in Saskatchewan, Canada, used their DJI Mavic 3 Enterprise to save a man's life in brutal conditions. Officers were looking for an intoxicated man in minus 20 degree Celsius or minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit weather. The officers deployed their Mavic 3T and were able to pick up the man's heat signature inside a roadside dumpster. Officers were able to get to him before hypothermia set in. Great job to Corman Park Police Service!Join us later for Post Flight in the community, and for the Live Q&A! We'll see you then!https://dronexl.co/2026/05/19/autel-fcc-reply-covered-list-secret-evidence-dji/https://dronexl.co/2026/05/21/dji-mavic-3-enterprise-man-dumpster-20/https://dronexl.co/2026/05/14/michigan-house-passes-2-of-15-shield-drone-bills/