DJI finally gave an answer on why they won’t stop drones from flying over the White House.
Their reps talked about their future in the US and why they’re making these changes. Thoughts?
Honestly, I think DJI is making the right call here. Their previous maps were inaccurate and caused issues. There’s no actual regulation that requires them to provide a flight restriction map, yet they still do it.
At the end of the day, it’s on the pilot to follow the law—same as driving a car. Imagine if car manufacturers suddenly prevented you from going over the speed limit just because their own maps said so.
And let’s be real, if the Secret Service can’t handle a drone near the White House, we’ve got bigger issues. A homemade drone wouldn’t care about DJI’s geofencing anyway.
@Dior
Doesn’t Tesla already do something similar? Or maybe that’s just in autopilot mode?
Leeland said:
@Dior
Doesn’t Tesla already do something similar? Or maybe that’s just in autopilot mode?
Tesla adjusts speed based on road signs since it has sign recognition. Other car brands do it too. But they don’t actually prevent you from exceeding the limit.
Mercedes in the UK does have an option like that, though. If you turn it on, even if you floor it, the car won’t let you go past the limit. Now imagine if that was forced on everyone.
Leeland said:
@Dior
Doesn’t Tesla already do something similar? Or maybe that’s just in autopilot mode?
Tesla uses AI to read speed limit signs. It doesn’t just rely on maps.
This was a pretty interesting read. The DJI reps did a solid job explaining their reasoning. Appreciate you sharing it!
I’ve had issues both ways—couldn’t take off in places that were totally fine and somehow took off in controlled airspace without any unlocking. Geofencing has been a mess, honestly.
Ash said:
I’ve had issues both ways—couldn’t take off in places that were totally fine and somehow took off in controlled airspace without any unlocking. Geofencing has been a mess, honestly.
Yeah, and the whole six-digit code thing is such a pain. I’ve had moments where I needed to get in the air quickly, but DJI made me deal with unlocking nonsense even though I already had LAANC approval.
Ash said:
I’ve had issues both ways—couldn’t take off in places that were totally fine and somehow took off in controlled airspace without any unlocking. Geofencing has been a mess, honestly.
People on this forum will defend DJI no matter what. It’s kinda funny and kinda sad.
@Thorne
Their geofencing was so bad that even regulators in the EU and UK told them to knock it off.
As a flight instructor, I can confirm that DJI’s maps were often wrong. I lost count of how many times I was blocked from flying in legal airspace near airports. So I totally get why they’re making this change.
That being said, I don’t love the argument that drone pilots should just be responsible like car drivers. There’s a massive difference between flying a drone and flying a plane.
Private pilots in the US go through around 70+ hours of flight training, plus twice that in ground school, and take an FAA exam before getting their license. That’s a ton of education on airspace rules. Meanwhile, drone pilots take a quick multiple-choice test, and most don’t even bother with it.
A lot of people don’t think anything bad will happen to them, so they ignore rules. Then when something goes wrong, we get more drone regulations. It’s way too easy right now for someone with zero experience to buy a drone and do something reckless.
I actually thought DJI’s geofencing app worked pretty well. I don’t get why they don’t just offer that tech to the government. Let the White House test it, improve it, and then make it available to licensed drone operators.
What really annoyed me was needing approval from my own government (LAANC) and then still having to request permission from DJI. There were times when the FAA cleared me to fly, but DJI wouldn’t let me take off. They need to step away from the geofencing business entirely.