Beijing bans owning and flying recreational drones after small plane hits CITIC Tower

Elroy Air announced that Bristow Group Inc. has expanded its early delivery reservations for the Chaparral autonomous cargo aircraft, reserving 10 additional early delivery positions for a total of 15. Bristow previously secured early delivery slots for five Chaparral drones and announced a pre-order agreement for up to 100 Chaparral drones. The announcement follows the first autonomous, uncrewed flight demonstrations conducted in Houma, Louisiana, as part of the Federal Aviation Administration's and the U.S. Department of Transportation's eVTOL Integration Pilot Program, in collaboration with government and industry partners. Bristow Executive Vice President and Chief Transformation Officer David Stepanek said the Louisiana demonstrations gave the company a chance to explore how Chaparral could support a range of transportation and logistics missions, adding that Bristow sees potential applications across commercial, government services, and special mission operations. Elroy Air CEO Dr. Andrew Clare said the company was proud to have partnered with Bristow over the last few years and appreciated Bristow's continued confidence in the platform. The Chaparral is an uncrewed, autonomous VTOL aircraft that carries 500+ pounds of cargo, requires no runways or fixed infrastructure, and has a hybrid-electric powertrain with range of up to 450 miles. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, the exclusive U.S. manufacturer of Chaparral, will produce the aircraft at its expanding Sacramento, California facility, with the first production aircraft planned for late 2026.

Amazon is on the precipice of gaining approval to expand its Prime Air drone delivery service from a limited launch area to the whole of Darlington, according to the company's vice-president of Prime Air, David Carbon. The US tech giant began a limited number of flights in February, allowing customers within a 7.5-mile radius of its County Durham site to receive certain items by drone, after announcing in January that Darlington would be its UK test centre, the first time Prime Air had expanded outside the USA. Following more than 500 flights and deliveries, Amazon is now seeking approval from the Civil Aviation Authority to cover the entire town, with Carbon saying the firm expects permission very soon and ultimately aims to expand the service to the whole of the UK. Eligible customers in Darlington can currently receive items within two hours if the package weighs less than 5lb, and staff at the site said their best delivery time so far is 39 minutes. Carbon said the size and weight limitations make about 68% of items people order eligible for drone delivery, and that Prime Air is currently included with an Amazon Prime membership at no additional delivery fee, though this will be evaluated as the service expands.