Drone News Roundup: K2 Mountain with the Mavic 3 Pro, DJI Neo Beginner’s Guide, and More!

This week we’re covering a new cinematic drone video shot at K2, the famous mountain in Pakistan where a movie was made in the early ’90s.

We’re also covering a beginner’s guide to flying the DJI Neo, a reminder not to fly over wildfires, Flying Lion’s 55,000+ DFR mission milestone, and Pentagon adding Autel to its black list.

Now let’s get to those links!

K2 on the Mavic 3 Pro

Ever seen the mountain-climbing movie K2? That movie was set in the Karakoram Mountains, where the K2 basecamp is located—and those are the same mountains featured in this drone video. The footage was shot on the Mavic 3 Pro by drone pilot Luca Putzer, who recently submitted the video to SkyPixel’s 10th annual contest. The deadline for submitting is February 10, so you still have some time if you’ve been thinking about sending in your work. For now, hope you enjoy Putzer’s beautiful footage of these remote, snow-crusted mountain peaks.

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DJI Neo Beginner’s Guide

The DJI Neo is a powerful selfie drone. Priced around $200, it’s also one of the most inexpensive drones DJI has ever sold. In this video, we cover everything you need to know to get started with the Neo. That includes a full flight walkthrough, the Neo’s intelligent flight features, and tips to get the most out of this lightweight, feature-packed drone. Whether you’re considering buying a Neo or you just bought one and need help getting oriented, this video has you covered.

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Reminder: Don’t Fly Over Active Wildfire Operations

Two people were recently arrested for flying drones over the ongoing L.A. wildfires. And last Thursday, another drone collided with a Super Scooper, a special amphibious crewed aircraft that carries thousands of gallons of water to fight fires. These are just a few incidents among many—several drone sightings have forced firefighters to ground their aircraft to avoid similar collisions. So far, 48 unauthorized drones have been detected flying over the wildfires, with three people arrested for flying where they shouldn’t.

As a reminder, you can’t fly a drone over a wildfire. You can generally assume that there’s a TFR (Temporary Flight Restriction) in place over any area impacted by wildfires. Why? To protect the firefighters using crewed aircraft to fight the fire. Unauthorized drones can collide with those crewed aircraft, causing a serious danger to those flying them. When firefighters detect a drone in the air, they’ll ground their firefighting aircraft until it’s gone, leading to delays in fighting the fire. So please—don’t fly over fires.

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Flying Lion Announces Over 55,000 DFR Flights

Credit: Flying Lion

Drone as First Responder (DFR) programs have reached a big milestone. According to Flying Lion, a drone service provider that works with public safety departments, it has completed an impressive 55,773 DFR flights. Just as impressive, over 60% of them were flown BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line of Sight). A DFR flight is when a drone is deployed immediately to the scene of an emergency call, providing real-time visual data for first responders en route. Flying Lion shared that its drones arrived on-scene before ground units 74% of the time in its DFR flights. The success Flying Lion and other organizations have seen is expected to lead to even more DFR operations in the coming years.

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Pentagon Adds Autel to List of Companies with Ties to the Chinese Military

Credit: DroneUp

The U.S. Defense Department has added Autel to its list of companies with ties to the Chinese military. DJI was the first drone company ever added to this list. Along with Autel, Tencent Holdings, the gaming and social media giant, and CATL, the world’s largest battery maker, were recently added to the list, which now includes 134 companies. This list is updated every year as part of the “Section 1260H list” mandated by U.S. law. In response, Autel issued a statement denying any connection to the Chinese military: “Autel Robotics is not a defense contractor nor a supplier to the military and has never participated in any military-related activities.”

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