Drone News Roundup: Alaska by FPV Drone + Mavic 3 Pro, FAA Makes 30-Mile No Drone Zone for Super Bowl, and More!
BY Zacc Dukowitz
6 February 2025This week we’re covering an aerial tour of Alaska shot by Danny McGee that blends FPV and Mavic 3 Pro footage.
We’re also covering the FAA’s 30-mile No Drone Zone in New Orleans for the Super Bowl, a $65,000 fine for the drone pilot who interfered with wildfire operations in Los Angeles, a cable that lets you mirror your screen, and a new device from DroneTag that tells you who’s flying in the area.
Now on to the links!
Alaska by FPV + Mavic 3 Pro
Alaska is known for its stark, breathtaking beauty, and YouTuber Danny McGee does a great job capturing that in this recent video. McGee shot the video while aboard the Ponant Le Austral cruise ship, flying from the boat to get shots of Alaska’s rugged landscape, from towering glaciers to pristine waterways. The video is a blend of FPV and traditional cinematic drone footage shot on the Mavic 3 Pro. The FPV footage was shot with iFlight’s Nazgul 5 and its Chimera 7, both equipped with a GoPro 12.
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FAA Establishes 30-Mile No Drone Zone for the Super Bowl
In the last few years, NFL games have become a magnet for rogue drone flights. In 2017, there were just about a dozen drone incursions at NFL games. But by 2023 the number had ballooned to 2,845, prompting the FAA to take more and more serious measures to try and curb them.
We can see this in the FAA’s 30-mile “No Drone Zone” for the upcoming Super Bowl LIX, which is taking place at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans on February 9, 2025. Temporary flight restrictions (TFRs) will also be in effect from February 6-11 within a 10-nautical-mile radius of the Superdome. On game day, restrictions will expand to a 30-nautical-mile radius and up to 18,000 feet in altitude from 4:30 PM to 10:30 PM CST. Violators could face drone confiscation, fines up to $75,000, and potential criminal prosecution.
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Drone Pilot Who Interfered with Wildfire Operations in L.A. Faces $65,000 in Fines, Jail Time
A California man has pleaded guilty to interfering with firefighting efforts during this year’s Palisades Fire in Los Angeles. Vinh Nguyen admitted to flying his DJI Mini 3 Pro into restricted airspace, colliding with a water-dropping aircraft and punching a hole in its left wing. No one was hurt aboard the craft. But it was forced to land immediately, and the incident forced the grounding of all firefighting aircraft for hours, significantly hampering efforts to contain the blaze. Facing up to a year in prison, it looks likely Nguyen will instead agree to do 150 hours in community service and pay a $65,000 fine—the cost of repairing the damaged plane.
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USB-C to HDMI Cable Lets Others See Drone’s RC Screen
Want to show team members what you’re seeing on your RC’s screen? This video highlights a USB-C to HDMI cable made by the Drone Valley team, which connects a DJI RC-2 controller to a screen, letting you mirror the screen from your remote controller onto an external monitor. (The kit also includes a right-angle adapter, so you can use it with your phone or laptop.) If you work in inspections, search and rescue, or some other area where multiple people are interested in seeing what the drone sees while it’s in flight, this could be a good option for you.
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New Pocket-Sized Device Tells You Who’s Flying Nearby
Credit: DroneTag
Dronetag recently launched the RIDER, a pocket-sized Remote ID receiver that lets you know who’s flying a drone near you—so long as they’re Remote ID-compliant. The device is wireless, drone-agnostic, and captures real-time data including the position, altitude, and pilot details for any drones operating within six miles. It works by capturing and interpreting Remote ID signals from any drone broadcasting them, regardless of the manufacturer. The RIDER sells for $899 and is currently available for pre-order.
The goal of the RIDER and similar devices is to make the skies safer by enabling UTM (Uncrewed Traffic Management) and letting pilots know who is flying where in the area. But they have also raised safety and privacy concerns for drone pilots who worry about broadcasting their location in a time when people seem to be shooting at drones more and more, even for legal, FAA-sanctioned flights.
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