Latest Drones Headlines

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

Trial Operations of Flying Taxis, Cargo Drones Will Begin in England This Year

May 20 2021 // Trial operations of flying taxis and cargo drones will begin in Coventry, England, before the end of the year as part of a plan to develop “aerial roads” for unmanned flights in urban areas.The project, backed...

Insurers Expected to Expand Use of Drones to Survey Damage With Rule Change

May 3 2021 // New Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) rules are expected to clear the way for expanded commercial use of drones, which are increasingly being used by insurers to assess property damage.The updated Operations Over...

Drone Maker Settling for $25M in Military Gear Parts Suit

Jan 25 2021 // Aerial drone manufacturer, Insitu, in Bingen, Washington, will pay $25 million to settle allegations that its military drones were outfitted with used components instead of new ones.U.S. attorney Brian Moran said cases...

Drone Maker Settling for $25M in Military Gear Parts Suit

Jan 15 2021 // Aerial drone manufacturer Insitu in the Columbia River Gorge, Ore., will pay $25 million to settle allegations that its military drones were outfitted with used components instead of new ones.U.S. attorney Brian Moran said...

Alphabet’s Wing Aviation Warns Proposed Drone ID Rules Invite Privacy Issues

Jan 4 2021 // Alphabet Inc.’s drone delivery unit Wing criticized Trump administration rules issued this week mandating broadcast-based remote identification of drones, saying they should be revised to allow for internet-based...

U.S. Approves Commercial Drone Flights Over Populated Areas With Tracking

Dec 29 2020 // Commercial drone use for deliveries and services cleared a major hurdle in the U.S. with new rules allowing the devices to fly over populated areas for the first time and requirements for tracking them to address safety...

ISO Business Auto Form and Endorsement Revisions

Oct 23 2020 // Effective November 1, 2020, Insurance Services Office (ISO) is introducing 19 new endorsements for its business auto program. Many of these changes are the result of requests from IIABA’s Technical Affairs...

Drones, Satellite Images Used to Assess Coastal Damage from Hurricane Laura

Sep 9 2020 // Hurricane Laura was hardly done ripping across Louisiana before scientists started combing through satellite imagery and drone footage and preparing to survey coastal areas to see what damage was caused by the monster...

Drones Help Insurance Companies Check Windstorm Damage in Iowa

Aug 31 2020 // Insurance adjusters who descended on Cedar Rapids, Iowa, after the Aug. 10 derecho storm are using drones to check roofs and asking homeowners with less severe damage to take their own photos.Some of this is due to the...

Florida Company Deploys Drones to Sanitize Facilities in Virus Fight

Jul 21 2020 // Upward Drone Solutions was only in business for a few months before the coronavirus pandemic hit and much of its work cleaning the exteriors of buildings dried up.Andy Godfrey, CEO of the Pensacola Beach-based business,...

Smart Cameras at Amazon Provide Real-Time Social Distancing Feedback to Employees

Jun 16 2020 // Amazon Inc. is pairing cameras with artificial intelligence to enforce social distancing among employees in its offices and warehouses. The system gives employees real time feedback on whether they are complying with the...

Software Allows Drones to Monitor Social Distancing, Face Masks

Jun 15 2020 // Airspace Systems, a California startup company that makes drones that can hunt down and capture other drones, last Thursday released new software for monitoring social distancing and face-mask wearing from the air.The...

PAK Programs Expands Drone Risk Assessment Service to Breweries

Jun 4 2020 // PAK Programs, a specialty insurer of alcoholic beverage manufacturers and distributors, has expanded its Insurance Risk Assessment Drone (iRAD) program, previously only available for wineries, to serve the craft beer...

Small Commercial Drones: Overcoming the Misconceptions

Apr 6 2020 // One of the most interesting and rapidly-growing technologies emerging for small business owners is the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, commonly known as drones. In 2019 alone, there were nearly 1.3 million registered...

U.S. Seeks Certificaton Criteria for Civilian Drones

Feb 5 2020 // Government regulators plan to review drone designs in the same way they review other aircraft, a major step toward allowing routine drone deliveries and other flights over congested cities.The Federal Aviation...

Long-Awaited U.S. Drone Safety Rules Call for Extensive Tracking Network

Dec 26 2019 // All but the smallest civilian drones would have to broadcast radio tracking data to ensure greater safety and prevent terrorism under a sweeping proposal unveiled by U.S. regulators Thursday.The long-awaited draft rules...

New Higher-Speed Florida Train has Highest U.S. Death Rate

Dec 4 2019 // After Richard Branson announced his Virgin Group would partner with Brightline, Florida’s new higher-speed passenger rail service, a train whisked the British billionaire, VIPs and journalists from Miami to West Palm...

Imagining How Technology Might Transform Risks and Insurance by 2030

Nov 7 2019 // As 2019 wraps up, many in the insurance industry are likely well into planning for the next year.But what about planning for the next decade? While it can be difficult to predict what’s ahead in 10 years, industry...

UPS Drone Service to Deliver CVS Health Prescriptions to Homes

Oct 22 2019 // United Parcel Service Inc.’s new Flight Forward drone unit will soon start home prescription delivery from CVS Health Corp.The service, which will debut in one or two U.S. cities in the coming weeks, shows how the...

Verifly, Now Thimble, Raises $22M to Fuel On-Demand Insurance Growth

Oct 16 2019 // Thimble, formerly known as Verifly, raised $22 million in new financing designed to fuel further expansion and diversification well beyond its original focus on on-demand drone insurance.Existing investors Slow Ventures,...