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