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A rogue drone repeatedly violated Gatwick Airport airspace with massive consequences. Separately, a drone is suspected of colliding with an airliner. Also, ANSI releases a standardization roadmap, and drones are being used to study peatlands in Australia, deliver items over a mobile network, locate nests of protected birds, and support Mars rover tests.

UAV News

Rogue drone pilot taunts police: Army join snipers in cat and mouse game as Gatwick drone is spotted over runway AGAIN just minutes before it was due to re-open – with chaos set to last until Christmas Eve

Gatwick Airport was thrown into chaos as the airport was shut down after a rogue drone repeatedly entered the airspace. Some 760 flights were grounded and 110,000 people were stranded. A drone buzzed the airport many times and the authorities were hard-pressed to remove the threat.

ANSI Standardization Roadmap for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Published

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) announced the publication of the Standardization Roadmap for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (Version 1.0). The roadmap was developed by the Institute’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems Standardization Collaborative (UASSC) “to coordinate and accelerate the development of the standards and conformity assessment programs needed to facilitate the safe integration of unmanned aircraft systems into the national airspace system of the United States.” The roadmap examines 64 issue areas and identified 60 gaps with no published standard or specification.

Using Drones to Monitor Peatlands

Researchers in Australia are interested in monitoring peatlands and they are using ultra-high spatial resolution imagery from drones. The researchers want to test the viability of creating hydrological models that monitor hydrological changes and assist in the rehabilitation of damaged peatlands.

Vodafone Conducts UK’s First Drone Delivery Over a Mobile Network

Vodafone has made a drone delivery over a 4G mobile network. The Christmas drone made a short 800-meter flight and delivered festive treats.

Video: Vodafone brings Christmas cheer with UK’s first drone delivery over a mobile network

Boeing 737 damaged in possible drone crash near U.S.-Mexico border

Aeromexico Flight 773, a Boeing 737, was struck in the nose on final approach to Tijuana International. The damage was substantial and the incident is under investigation.

Drones can detect protected nightjar nests

Cardiff University ecologists conducted a pilot study in South Wales using drones with thermal imaging sensors to locate ground-dwelling nightjars without disturbing the birds.

Self-driving rovers tested in Mars-like Morocco

Three autonomous SherpaTT rovers were tested for over two weeks in an environment close to that of Mars. Prior to the tests, ESA used a drone to map the location and create high-resolution digital elevation models.

Is someone getting a drone for Christmas? Raleigh will help you find a place to fly it.

The City Council of Raleigh, North Carolina approved a policy for where and when people can fly drones in the city’s parks. The city parks department then created a website with the rules and a map showing where you can take off and land: Unmanned Aerial Systems (Drones) Guidelines in Raleigh Parks.