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/