Latest Drones Headlines

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

Portugal Accelerates Drone Law After 8 Close Encounters with Aircraft

Jul 17 2017 // Portugal is expediting a law that will introduce mandatory registration and insurance for drones weighing more than 250 grams (8.8 ounces).The measure follows eight near-misses between drones and commercial aircraft at...

Munich Re US Launches Commercial Drone Operator Liability Endorsement

Jul 7 2017 // Munich Reinsurance America Inc. (Munich Re, US), has launched a new commercial drone insurance product that offers customized liability for insurance companies and their small-to-medium size businesses using drones under...

Drone Delivery Fleets Counting on Hyperlocal Weather Forecasts

Jun 22 2017 // Imagine a weather report so precise it provides wind-gust forecasts for individual city blocks. Such micro-weather data may soon become a reality—and a necessity for future fleets of delivery drones.As Amazon.com Inc.,...

Doughnut Delivery Drone Takes Flight in Colorado

Jun 19 2017 // Doughnuts were delivered earlier this month by drone to Denver’s mayor and the city’s police and fire departments in an event that provided a glimpse into what companies hope will be a quick, inexpensive way to...

Why Insurance Lawyer Grounded FAA’s Drone Registry

Jun 7 2017 // John Taylor didn’t like the idea of being forced by the Federal Aviation Administration to register his drones. The requirement was “authoritarian,” the Maryland attorney said, and wouldn’t deter...

Travelers’ Drone Program Is Shaping the Way Claims Reps Do Business

Jun 5 2017 // Travelers’ Claim University, founded in 2007, is working to change the way its claims professionals do business through the use of drones to assist in property inspection and claims analysis.The nearly 200,000-square...

Doughnut Delivery Drone Takes Flight in Colorado

Jun 2 2017 // Doughnuts were delivered this week by drone to Denver’s mayor and the city’s police and fire departments in an event that provided a glimpse into what companies hope will be a quick, inexpensive way to get...

Japan Readies Strategy for Drones, Autonomous Vehicles

May 30 2017 // Japan aims to finalize on June 9 plans to allow package delivery by drone sometime from 2020 and the commercialization of self-driving trucks by 2022, as it scrambles to breathe new life into its corporate sector, sources...

Amazon’s Delivery Drone Project Focuses on Birds (and How to Avoid Them)

May 22 2017 // Amazon.com Inc.’s development of package-delivery drones is progressing to the point where the company is now thinking a lot about geese.The e-commerce company said Thursday it has started development of an...

U.S. Court Voids Recreational Drone User Registry

May 22 2017 // The government’s authority to oversee burgeoning recreational drone use was dealt a setback when a federal appeals court barred the Federal Aviation Administration from forcing hobbyists to register the millions of...

Texas Public Safety Agencies Embracing Drone Use

May 12 2017 // Government use of aerial drones became much easier when the Federal Aviation Administration flipped the switch on new regulations last year.The Austin American-Statesman reports since then, a number of Austin-area public...

Travelers’ Drone Program Is Changing the Way Its Claims Reps Do Business

May 11 2017 // Travelers’ Claim University, founded in 2007, is working to change the way its claims professionals do business through the use of drones to assist in property inspection and claims analysis.The nearly 200,000-square...

Michigan’s Frankenmuth Insurance Adds Drone Services

May 4 2017 // Frankenmuth, Mich.-based Frankenmuth Insurance announced it has obtained licenses through the FAA to operate drones for use by claims and commercial lines’ loss control teams to aid in inspecting roofs and other...

Allied World to Offer Drone Loss Control Services to Policyholders

Apr 21 2017 // Allied World North America has expanded its risk management offerings to policyholders to include access to discounted unmanned aerial systems (UAS) services through DataWing, a UAS service provider led by former U.S. Air...

‘Flying Taxi’ Successfully Tested in Germany by Start-Up Lilium Jet

Apr 21 2017 // A Bavarian start-up is developing a five-seat “flying taxi” after successful test flights over Germany of a smaller version of the electric jet, the company said on Thursday.Munich-based Lilium, backed by...

Through the Roof: Drone Startup Cites Milestone of 6,000 Inspections

Apr 6 2017 // BetterView, an insurance technology startup that captures and analyzes data from drones, said it has performed more than 6,000 roof top inspections for insurers since its inception two years ago.San Francisco, California...

Drone Maker DJI Offers Operator ID Framework

Mar 29 2017 // The world’s largest maker of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), China’s DJI, has proposed an electronic identification framework for UAS that would allow authorities in the United States to identify drone owners...

Dummies Taking Hits for Drone Safety

Mar 16 2017 // Hank sat impassively on a Virginia Tech athletic field, ready to take it on the chin for the future of drone commerce.About 30 yards away, an eight-rotor unmanned copter hovered, buzzing like a swarm of bees. The 21-pound...

United Educators Insurance Expands Coverage for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Mar 15 2017 // Bethesda, MD, March 15, 2017—United Educators Insurance (UE), a Reciprocal Risk Retention Group (RRG) celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, is expanding its general liability (GL) coverage for unmanned aerial...

Proposed Oklahoma Bill Would Allow Property Owners to Destroy Drones

Mar 9 2017 // Proposed Oklahoma legislation heading to the Senate would exempt property owners from civil action if they destroy drones not regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration.The proposed bill, authored by Republican Sen....