Drone News: Public Safety Fights Drone Ban, DJI Ends Sync, Mavic 3 Parachute, Remote ID, & DJI Air 4

Welcome to your weekly UAS news update, we have 6 stories for you this week: DJI Ends Sync, AVSS Parachute for Mavic 3 Enterprise, GAO report on remote ID, University of Michigan sued for airspace rules, DJI Air 4 Leaks, and Public Safety responds to Stefanik proposed bills.

First up, let's talk a pretty big story that happened at the end of last week after we published news update: DJI has ended their “Sync Flight Data” function as of this week. If you’re unfamiliar with it, this feature allows flight records to be synced to the DJI cloud and imported into other apps such as AirData UAV or Aloft Air Control. AirData and Air Control have posted information on workarounds, with AirData utilizing their app to synch data from the drone, and Aloft allowing for manual uploads of flight logs. This move by DJI is only applicable in the United States and is likely a response to repeated accusation that the data is made available to the Chinese government. With the end of the program, law makers will now need to find new excuses to try to ban DJI. For more info, check out the links below. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has published a report this week about the implementation of remote ID. The GAO found that while RID is now mandatory, the FAA has not spent time educating law enforcement on the technology, with many departments reporting they knew nothing about it. The study also looked at law enforcement access to RID and aircraft registration, and the GAO noted that there is not currently an interface allowing law enforcement to access registration information. The report also mentions network remote ID technologies as a necessary solution to help law enforcement to "access real-time information needed to track and investigate unauthorized drone activity." . The report also stated that “Stakeholders representing a commercial drone group said that there is a general lack of willingness by industry to develop network-based Remote ID”. The GAO issued 3 recommendations to the FAA; develop resources to assist state, tribal, and local LE to use remote ID; develop a plan and timeline for a remote ID interface; identify a path forward for how to provide real-time, networked data about the location and status of drones. Note that Network Remote ID is a topic of discussion in the new FAA Reauthorization Act. We’ll keep you updated if we see more. Fourth up, we have a lawsuit from the Michigan Coalition of Drone Operators against the University of Michigan. The lawsuit claims that the University has rules attempting to govern airspace above the campus and that these rules violate state and federal laws. We’ll have to wait and see how this one plays out but good on the Michigan Coalition for fighting for drone operators and their unencumbered access to the airspace. Hopefully this sends a message to other organizations trying to illegally restrict airspace access, sadly lots of universities are in this bag. Air 4 Leaks??? Lastly, 3 first responders associations have joined hands and published opposition to the DFR Act and the Countering CCP Drones Act. Drone Responders, the Law Enforcement Drone Association (LEDA), and the Airborne Public Safety Association (APSA) have issued a joint press release in opposition to Representative Stefanik's proposals.