A plan by the Brunswick Police Department and the Federal Railroad Administration could make the department the first in the country to use drones to patrol for trespassers along railroad tracks in town. The project, which is still in its infancy, also would make the Brunswick Police Department the first in Maine to use drones […]
Drones
Posted inMaine, sj-web
State police use drones to investigate crashes
A Maine State Police unmanned aerial vehicle hovers Thursday outside Maine State Police headquarters at the Central Maine Commerce Center in Augusta. AUGUSTA — In the past, when two or more vehicles collided in a remote part of the state, it might have taken the Maine State Police more than 24 hours to travel to […]
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Posted inLetters
An invasion of privacy
Why do some people think that it is OK to fly their drones over other people’s property? I am having that problem, and I do not appreciate it. I consider it to be an invasion of my privacy. I understand what it is like to have a new toy (I have a 12-year-old grandson). What […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Lewiston-Auburn drone pilots navigate new FAA rules
LEWISTON — Colby Michaud is serious about piloting his drone. A filmmaker and owner of Lewiston’s Praxis Production Studios, his Phantom 3 is less a toy and more a window on different vantage points. “It’s one thing about flying that I love — you get to see the world from a different place,” Michaud said. […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
FAA requires registrations for drones
WASHINGTON — Owners of many small drones and model airplanes will have to register them with the government. The Federal Aviation Administration announced the requirement Monday in response to increasing reports of drones flying near manned aircraft and airports. The requirement covers aircraft weighing from a half pound to 55 pounds. Drone owners who are […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Federal government to require drone registration
WASHINGTON — The federal government will require many drone aircraft to be registered, a move prompted by the growing number of reported close calls and incidents that pose safety risks, officials announced Monday. Pilot sightings of drones have doubled since last year, including sightings near manned aircraft and major sporting events, and interference with wildfire-fighting […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine search and rescue drone gets FAA approval
BANGOR — A Maine-based search and rescue organization has become the first civilian entity of its type to receive permission from the Federal Aviation Administration to use unmanned aircraft systems, or drones. The authorization granted to Down East Emergency Medicine Institute on April 6 allows it to operate two drones it purchased from a southern […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
U.S. drones patrol about half the Mexican border
SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. — The U.S. government now patrols nearly half the Mexican border by drones alone in a largely unheralded shift to control desolate stretches where there are no agents, camera towers, ground sensors or fences, and it plans to expand the strategy to the Canadian border. It represents a significant departure from a […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Reaction mixed on the increasing use of camera-equipped drones
BANGOR — “Is that a drone?” a woman walking her dog along the Bangor Waterfront asked late Monday morning. Her tone fell somewhere between curious and accusatory. “Nope, it’s a quadcopter,” Bangor-based flier-photographer Monty Rand said as he stared down at his monitor while a small, multi-propellered machine hovered about 200 feet overhead. “Oh,” she […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Drones banned from Acadia and other national parks
ACADIA NATIONAL PARK — If you’re planning a trip to Maine’s only national park and think you might order drone deliveries of batteries or bug spray during your visit, you’ll have to reconsider. Late last week, the director of the National Park Service sent out a memo instructing all park superintendents to ban the use […]