DJI Announces Drones Will Comply With New Canada Regulations

DJI, the world’s leader in civilian drones and aerial imaging technology, is pleased to declare that nine of its drone models comply with the latest Transport Canada regulations for advanced drone operations in controlled airspace. This allows DJI customers to continue using their preferred drones in these operations after June 1, when Transport Canada’s new regulatory framework for civilian drone operations takes effect across Canada.

“Transport Canada wants to ensure that drones operated in advanced missions are high-quality, reliable products. While DJI drones meet our own high quality assurance requirements, we have spent the last few months diligently reviewing our documentation, safety standards and administrative processes to ensure they comply with Transport Canada’s new requirements,” said David Hansell, DJI Public Policy Manager. “We can now declare official compliance with those requirements, allowing our customers to use our drones in controlled airspace without interruption.”

 

 

Transport Canada announced its new regulatory framework for certain types of advanced civilian drone operations in January, requiring the use of drones whose manufacturer has declared compliance with reliability and operational characteristics under a safety assurance framework. DJI’s compliant drones are the M600 Series, M200 Series, M200 V2 Series, Inspire 2, Mavic 2 series, Mavic Pro, Mavic Air, Phantom 4 series and Spark.

“A self-declaration compliance regime is yet another innovative approach by Transport Canada to lead the way in enhancing safety while integrating advanced operations,” said Javier Caina, DJI Director of Technical Standards. “Allowing manufacturers to declare their equipment compliant with requirements and standards is preferable to requiring an aviation authority to certify each product. This approach enables DJI to continue providing new products for our professional customers in Canada so they may continue to innovate, save lives, and develop new use cases while flying safely and responsibly.”

DJI continues to review the process of declaring its drones compliant for other advanced operations under Transport Canada’s safety assurance program. These elements of the program have different steps and requirements, and further information will be announced at a later date.

DJI supports safe and responsible drone operations, and believes technological improvements, registration systems, online knowledge tests to educate drone pilots, and reasonable restrictions on where drones can fly are the best tools to ensure drones maintain their admirable safety record.

DJI has led the industry in developing technology to help enhance the safety of drone operations:

• In 2013, DJI pioneered geofencing systems for its drones, using GPS position to warn or restrict drone pilots from entering locations which pose national security or aviation safety concerns. DJI has since upgraded its geofencing to include live updates of temporary flight restrictions, more nuanced borders for geofencing zones to open up more areas where drones can fly safely, and more flexibility for drone pilots with authority to operate in those locations. 
• DJI created AeroScope, a remote identification system that lets authorities identify and monitor airborne DJI drones in areas that may raise concerns, while also noting the serial numbers of those drones and the locations of their pilots.
• DJI built automatic altitude limitations into its flight control apps to help pilots ensure they fly at safe altitudes.
• DJI developed sense-and-avoid systems for recent drone models, which use sensors to identify obstacles and either stop short of them or navigate around them.
• DJI created return-to-home systems which automatically guide a drone back to its takeoff point if it is low on battery or loses radio connection to its pilot.
• DJI invented intelligent systems to monitor available battery life and temperature in real time, maintain battery health and warn of potential battery malfunctions before flight.
• DJI has helped support scientific research into the risk posed by drones to ensure regulations are based on the best available evidence to achieve their safety goals.