Drone News: Sacrificed Drone Saves Lives, Autel Evo Lite Enterprise, & Drones Inspect KLM Aircraft

Welcome to your weekly UAS news update we have 3 stories for you, Man sacrifices drone to save lost people, Autel Evo Lite Enterprise, and Drones inspect KLM Aircraft. First up, 7 people were rescued after their boat started sinking in Utah Lake. Police were notified of a sinking boat, but were unable to locate them. While staging rescue crews at the marina, a local man flying his drone for fun overheard and offered to help. Stephan Ceciu was flying for fun initially, but assisted in the search, locating the sinking boat and sending their location to officials. The 7 people were successfully rescued and the boat was towed back to the marina. It’s unclear how far the drone was flown away from the operator or what kind of drone it was. However, did not have enough battery to return to home and landed in the lake. Great job Stephan and we’re sorry about your drone! Next up, Autel has released the Evo Lite Enterprise Series! The new series weigh 866g, and include thermal and visual payload options. The Lite Enterprise has a 40 minute flight time, 4K video, and 12km range. The Lite Thermal has a 640x512 resolution thermal camera, 16X digital zoom, and a temperature range of 0C to 550C. So far, no pricing has been released but we’ll keep you posted when if we see more! Last up, a new partnership between Dutch Drone Delta and KLM will use drones to inspect KLM’s aircraft. The new program will use DJI Matrice aircraft with AI enabled software to perform inspections and report damage to the pilots or other users. Images of the operation appear to show a Matrice 300 or 350 with a P1, LiDAR, and other payloads inspecting an Airbus A330. This is a pretty cool use for drones that will benefit air carriers by reducing downtime for inspections! Have a great week, and we’ll see you on Monday for the Live! https://shop.autelrobotics.com/collections/autel-evo-lite-series https://kutv.com/news/local/man-sacrifices-drone-in-effort-to-help-find-sinking-boat-with-7-passengers-in-utah-lake https://dronexl.co/2024/08/06/autel-robotics-evo-lite-enterprise-series/ https://dronexl.co/2024/08/07/drones-aircraft-inspections-schiphol-airport/