Drone News: Drone Industry Loses a Major Player, Bill Would Allow Shooting Drones, & Mavic 4 Leaks.
A sad first story, the industry pioneer and public safety visionary Romeo Durscher has sadly passed away.Romeo was a pioneer of drones for public safety, with the mantra "Drones for good".He worked for DJI, as their Director of Public Safety Integration, where he led and assisted departments getting started with drones.In 2018, the Camp Fire in California destroyed an entire town.Romeo led 15 drone teams to create high-definition maps of over 17,000 acres in days, saying “After Santa Rosa, I thought I’d seen it all. Then came Paradise… It’s beyond what one could imagine.”This was just one of many ways Romeo helped to cultivate drones is public safety.Romeo then moved from DJI to Auterion, pushing interchangeably to ensure public safety could use the best tool for their mission.Earlier this year, Romeo was given the Law Enforcement Drone Association's Lifetime Achievement Award. He was also named one of the 25 most influential people in the drone industry and given the Golden Medal from the Estonian Chamber of Commerce.Haye, from DroneXL, put it best: "Romeo Durscher’s passing leaves a void, but his vision soars on. The drone industry stands at a crossroads—poised for growth, yet challenged by regulation and ethics. Romeo showed us the way: technology must serve purpose, not profit alone."Next up, a Texas bill would allow drones to be shot down if flown over private property.There are several things wrong with this bill, starting with 18 USC 32.This law protects civil aircraft, both in the air and on the ground."Whoever willfully—(1)sets fire to, damages, destroys, disables, or wrecks any aircraft in the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States or any civil aircraft used, operated, or employed in interstate, overseas, or foreign air commerce......shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years or both."We also know how bad people are at identifying aircraft, with several of the NJ "drones" actually being airliners.And not to mention, what goes up must come down.If you're in Texas, please reach out to your state legislature and let them know this is a BAD idea.Next up, Mavic 4 Leaks!DroneXL and Jasper Ellens is reporting a new rumor that the Mavic 4 may be able to roll its gimbal up to 180 degreens in both directions. You heard that right, ROLL. This would mean you could take native vertical with all lenses and even upside down video.This would make quite an interesting function that we haven't seen on small drones.Well have to wait and see!We'll see your for the Monday live next week, no Friday live, it's finally time to move into our new building!https://dronexl.co/2025/03/05/dji-mavic-4-pro-vertical-and-beyond/https://dronexl.co/2025/03/05/romeo-durscher-drone-visionary-good/https://thetexan.news/issues/second-amendment/texas-bill-would-allow-property-owners-to-shoot-down-trespassing-drones/article_7a86e40e-f2f0-11ef-8321-33c28a01e369.html
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