The Top 15 “Drones for Good” Stories from 2025
BY Zacc Dukowitz
31 December 2025Today is the last day of 2025. And what a year it’s been!
One of our favorite things to do at the end of each year is look back at all the ways drones were used for good.
A “drones for good” story could be about how drones helped rescue someone in distress, how they contributed to scientific research or conservation efforts, or how they helped remove the need for people to work in dangerous environments.
It could also be about how drones are sparking joy in the world through art, drone light shows, and other creative uses.
Keep reading for our favorite drones for good stories from 2025.
1. Flying Into a Tornado—And Recording It
Chasing storms is dangerous enough from the ground. In 2025, one drone pilot took it to the next level—flying a drone straight into a tornado and capturing footage you almost can’t believe is real.
Beyond the “wow” factor, this kind of footage points to something bigger: drones can help us visualize extreme environments without putting people in harm’s way. The flight was pulled off by the OTUS Project, a nonprofit founded by students in meteorology and engineering that uses cutting-edge drones to study tornadoes up close.
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2. Saving a Drowning Victim
In a dramatic rescue on Pensacola Beach this year, a local shark fisherman used his fishing drone to save a teenage girl caught in a rip current. Andrew Smith flew his drone out nearly 100 yards and dropped a flotation device to the struggling swimmer, saving her life.
Smith’s drone was rigged to drop bait for shark fishing, allowing him to attach the flotation device to it and release it at just the right time. Officials say that without his quick thinking the girl probably wouldn’t have survived.
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3. Helping Rescue a Missing Puppy
This one will pull your heartstrings. In Pennsylvania, drone pilots helped locate a missing puppy named Dallas after she’d been lost for two days. The drone pilots spotted the puppy in a dense cornfield in the early hours of the morning and guided rescuers to her location, helping get her to safety.
Dallas had a jar stuck on her head, making the rescue that much more urgent since she couldn’t eat or drink while missing.
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4. Thermal Drone Helps Rescue Kayakers at Night
In New York state, first responders used a thermal drone to locate three kayakers stranded on the Allegheny River at night.
This is exactly where thermal drones shine: low visibility, time pressure, and a big search area. The drone helped responders find heat signatures quickly and get the kayakers back safely.
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5. FDNY Drone Assists in East River Rescue
FDNY’s Marine Battalion and Robotics team used a drone to assist in a life-saving rescue in the East River this year. The rescue started when the drone located a person in the water. Emergency personnel used a drone to drop two bright yellow buoys in the water, helping first responders navigate directly to the victim.
Battalion Chief Michael Dowling praised the drone team’s precision, noting that the buoys provided an easily seen marker prior to spotting the person’s head above water.
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6. Drone Light Show Gets New Guinness Record
Drone shows keep getting bigger—and this one was on a whole different level. In 2025, a massive drone light show featuring nearly 16,000 drones set a record and delivered the kind of spectacle that makes you stop scrolling and watch.
Back in 2016, Intel won the first Guinness Record for having the most drones in the air at the same time with just 100 drones. This drone light show now holds that record, as well as a new Guinness Record for the most fireworks launched during a drone show, with 7,496 fireworks accompanying the show.
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7. Rescuing a Hiker Trapped in Quicksand
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A drone played a key role in helping first responders locate and assist this hiker trapped in quicksand in a remote area in Utah. The drone provided an overhead view of the scene, helping rescuers assess the situation and guide their approach without putting additional people at risk.
It’s a clear example of how drones can add speed, visibility, and safety to search-and-rescue operations when every minute counts.
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8. Helping Advance Elephant Research
Drone in use in Samburu National Reserve | Credit: Jane Wynyard / Save the Elephants
Researchers are using drones to study elephant populations in ways that would be almost impossible from the ground.
A new study from the nonprofit Save The Elephants details how drones equipped with high-resolution cameras are helping scientists track herd movements, monitor health, and gather data across large, remote areas. All this, and the drone-based approach minimizes stress on the animals, since it’s far less invasive than ground-based alternatives.
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9. Improving Whale Research
From “SnotBot” blowhole sampling to top-down photogrammetry for body measurements and behavior, researchers are using drones to make big improvements in how they study whales. Some of the most common uses include collecting respiratory droplets, measuring body condition, and documenting behaviors that are hard to see from boats.
Not only do drones improve the quality of data collected—and in some cases, make it possible to collect that data at all—they also disturb animals less than traditional methods. The result is richer data on stress, pregnancy, disease, and feeding, plus aerial views that help teams track pods and calves in challenging seas.
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10. Cleaning Up Mount Everest
Mount Everest has long struggled with the environmental toll of tourism. In 2025, heavy-lift drones helped tackle the problem, moving supplies and waste through terrain that’s slow, risky, and exhausting for human porters.
Two DJI FlyCart 30 drones operated by Nepal’s Airlift Technology hauled more than 600 pounds (280 kilograms) of trash from Camp 1 down to base camp—a journey that takes Sherpas four hours on foot, but takes just six minutes by drone. The effort is reducing risk for Sherpas and speeding up the removal of decades-old waste, from oxygen canisters to kitchen scraps.
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11. Showcasing the Beauty of Everyday Stories
Drones are getting so easy to fly that more and more people are using them to document real life, not just high-end cinematic projects.
A family hiking video like this one from YouTuber Un Monde 2 Rêves might not sound like a headline, but it’s part of the bigger shift: drones becoming everyday tools for memory-making, and not just professional shoots.
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12. Saving a Man Hit by a Train
This year, a Skydio X10 played a big role in rescuing a man struck by a train in Oklahoma City.
When a conductor reported the incident but couldn’t pinpoint the victim’s location, the Oklahoma City Police Department’s Drone as First Responder (DFR) program sprang into action.
Within minutes, the team used the X10 to locate the severely injured man in an inaccessible area, relaying precise coordinates and live video to first responders. This rapid aerial response was credited with saving the man’s life, showcasing the real-world impact of advanced drone technology in emergency rescue scenarios.
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13. Fighting Animal Cruelty
Drone photo of an illegal cockfighting operation | Credit: SHARK
This year we covered the work done by nonprofit Showing Animals Respect & Kindness (SHARK) to document animal abuse that’s typically hidden behind fences, like cockfights, live-pigeon shoots, and more. After collecting evidence by drone, SHARK shares its documentation with authorities and the public.
The group credits years of aerial documentation with helping halt cruel events, including Chesapeake Bay cownose ray kills, and even spurring a 2022 investigation that rescued 4,000 beagles from a Virginia breeding facility. The group flies everything from DJI Minis to a Matrice 400, keeping pilots Part 107-certified and making sure to follow the law while helping protect vulnerable animals.
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14. Helping with Waste Cleanup
https://t.co/JTG9CcpgX9 Malta is using drones and AI to aid cleanup efforts—see how the system identifies trash in this short video.
— Zacc Dukowitz (@ZaccDukowitz) May 13, 2025
This year, Malta announced a €17 million (about $17 million) investment in new AI-powered drones to tackle waste in open spaces and rural areas. The new drone system, developed in collaboration with the University of Malta’s Department of Artificial Intelligence, uses computer vision to detect and geolocate litter from above, helping teams to target cleanup efforts more efficiently.
The initiative aims to modernize Malta’s public cleanup operations, improve working conditions for staff, and support the country’s broader vision for a cleaner, healthier environment.
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15. Mapping Invasive Plants to Protect Wetlands
This year, researchers used Wingtra’s VTOL drones to map wetlands, an area notoriously difficult to survey on foot or by boat. With high-resolution RGB and LiDAR sensors, the WingtraOne has captured data for detailed 3D maps of invasive aquatic plants across multiple sites in Vermont and New York.
These consistent, repeat surveys help researchers train AI models for efficient future monitoring and conservation efforts, protecting wetlands as vital buffers against storm damage and ecological imbalance.
