DJI drones get software update to stop flying near the White House

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DJI has released a software update for its Phantom drones that will prevent it flying near the White House, in line with new American Federal Aviation Administration guidelines.

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As spotted by Gizmag, the new software stops the Phantom drones from flying within a 25km radius of the White House. Perhaps not coincidentally, this updates comes just after someone (accidentally?) crashed a DJI Phantom drone on the White House grounds.

What’s also interesting is that this shows a new willingness of drone makers to work with authorities. Part of the reason drones haven’t taken off quite so quickly is because of the ambiguities over regulation of such new technology – so we can expect to see manufacturers and aviation regulators working more closely together in the future. Don’t be surprised if eventually there are no fly zones pretty much everywhere vaguely sensitive.

If you’re a Phantom owner you can grab the software update here.

Read our review of the Phantom 2 Vision here.

James O’Malley
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