Strange REUTERS reports about grounding of all DJI/Chinese made drones in the US

[MavicMikeMinh]

According to REUTERS
here: Reuters Report 1 and 10 mins later here: Reuters report 2
the U.S. Department of Interior has grounded all non-emergency Chinese-made or part-made drones as part of a review of its entire drone programme.

I have not yet found any further details, REUTERS is however usually a reliable source.

 

[dirkclod]

Your title is misleading it was the government drones not
All and is old news bro.

 

[MavicMikeMinh]

Thank you dirkclod for your friendly phrased comment. The Reuters message was published on OCT 31, 2019 / 7:09 AM (GMT). In my calendar this is just over 4 hrs old by the time I write this answer. Maybe too old when life happens in sport mode?

Should you by any remote chance have some spare time, may I kindly suggest to read the linked REUTERS messages yourself to verify. Here's a cup of to help you along. Over here, at times of crisis, we'd usually turn to the teapot .

 

[Kilrah]

These messages are new, but that happened several months ago and there's been lots of discussion about it already.

 

[Zoltram]

German economy newspaper is reporting that all DJI drones are grounded in the USA, except for emergency and public safety use.
Looks like it's some kind of new trade-war escalation between China and USA.

USA streichen Flugerlaubnis für chinesischen Drohnenhersteller DJI

Nach Angaben von DJI dürften in China gebaute Drohnen bis auf weiteres nicht mehr in den USA fliegen. Die USA wollten das Drohnenprogramm überprüfen.

www.wiwo.de

USA streichen Flugerlaubnis für chinesischen Drohnenhersteller DJI

31. Oktober 2019
Nach Angaben des Konzerns DJI dürften in China gebaute bis auf weiteres nicht mehr in den USA fliegen. Die USA wollten das gesamte Drohnenprogramm überprüfen, heißt es.
In China gebaute Drohnen dürfen nach Angaben des führenden Herstellers DJI in den USA zu einem großen Teil bis auf weiteres nicht mehr fliegen. Das Innenministerium in Washington habe angeordnet, dass alle ferngesteuerten Fluggeräte, die in China produziert oder in denen chinesische Teile verbaut seien, am Boden bleiben müssten, teilte das chinesische Unternehmen der Nachrichtenagentur Reuters mit.

Ausgenommen seien lediglich Drohnen, die für Notfall-Einsätze und für die öffentliche Sicherheit eingesetzt würden.

Translation:

US cancel flying permission for Chinese drone manufacturer DJI

October 31, 2019

According to the company DJI, drones made in China are unlikely to fly in the US until further notice. The US wants to review the entire drone program, they say.

According to the leading manufacturer DJI, drones built in China are largely no longer allowed to fly until further notice. The Ministry of the Interior in Washington has ordered that all remote-controlled aircraft that are produced in China or in which Chinese parts are installed, should remain on the ground, said the Chinese company to the news agency Reuters.



Excluded are only drones, which would be used for emergency operations and for public safety.

A Beijing State Department spokesman said China hopes the US government will stop "misusing the concept of national security." Chinese companies should not be discriminated against. The US and China had recently converged in their smoldering trade dispute over more than a year.

 

[MrChris]

Here is a link from Fortune Magazine that explains it a little bit better. The Department of the Interior doesn't have the authority to ground drones unilaterally for the whole country as seemingly implied in the first article, that would fall to the FAA. The DoI has grounded their own fleet of 810 drones pending review, except for emergency situations.

The U.S. Interior Department Has Grounded Its Fleet of 800 Drones, Fearing Chinese Surveillance

Last month, Senators introduced a new bill—the American Security Drone Act 2019—that would force all federal departments to stop using Chinese drones.

fortune.com

 

[Meta4]

German economy newspaper is reporting that all DJI drones are grounded in the USA, except for emergency and public safety use.
Looks like it's some kind of new trade-war escalation between China and USA.

That's some poor wording from the news agency.
The Interior Department has no authority to ground anyone's drones.
The story is obviously the Dept of Interior grounding their own drones - not everyone elses.

The whole story smacks of naive paranoia and is more political than about a genuine issue.

 

[MavicMikeMinh]

We need to be aware that REUTERS published this in English, a translation into German (by an otherwise reputable business magazine) can be problematic. The WiWo article appears to add further elements that are indeed based on much older news. Do read the original REUTERS article I linked. It's very short.

The Fortune article (thanks MrChris) seems to add quite some substance above and beyond the REUTERS article, their sources lead us further.

Another problem is that German sources were not aware of the powers of the US Dept of Interior. The DOI in my understanding (I'm not American) not at all comparable with other nation's interior ministries.

Fortune quotes THE VERGE (here US Interior Department is grounding its drone fleet due to risks of Chinese spying)
THE VERGE refers to The WALLSTREET JOURNAL Interior Department Grounds Aerial Drone Fleet, Citing Risk From Chinese Manufacturers

Chinese whispers or what? (pun intended, ha)

 

[sar104]

That's some poor wording from the news agency.
The Interior Department has no authority to ground anyone's drones.
The story is obviously the Dept of Interior grounding their own drones - not everyone elses.

The whole story smacks of naive paranoia and is more political than about a genuine issue.

The DOI has been leading an initiative to allow the use of DJI equipment, and has found itself somewhat ahead of other government agencies on that issue. With the recent bill introduced to ban government use entirely, I suspect that the Secretary felt rather exposed - hence this pre-emptive action. That's going to annoy a lot of users.

 

[JAW]

A bit more accuracy? DOI is only grounding the DJI drones it uses:

Interior Department Grounds Aerial Drone Fleet, Citing Risk From Chinese Manufacturers

The Interior Department is grounding its entire fleet of aerial drones, one of the largest in the federal government, citing increasing concerns about the national-security risk from Chinese manufacturers.

www.wsj.com

 

[Deleted member 93449]

Hopefully we won't get into a trade war with France .

 

[MavicMikeMinh]

This has increasingly become a text book case of how fast "not so precise" news travel. I found it a little disappointing that amongst others, German publications (read non-american) by way of translation errors came up with very wrong conclusions.

In translation it's never about the words, it's about the meaning.

And because I can, I convinced one publication to pull the entire article from their website before this spreads out even further. Another one is apparently still thinking about doing the same. (Not the one mentioned earlier in this thread, and if you really want to know which one, feel free to ask me in a PM).

 

[AMann]

No subscription for WSJ needed to read this:

Department of Interior grounds Chinese drones

A developing story with far-reaching implications. Appearing across multiple outlets the DOI seems to have grounded all Chinese RPAS in its care. Department of the Interior spokesperson Melissa Bro…

www.suasnews.com

 

[AMann]

Also, I wonder if this will include the use of Chinese made drones by contractors on BLM land other DOI lands? I have some BLM contracts for archaeological surveys and also use Chinese made GPS units. That could be considered in a way as taxpayer money being used (through my contracts) for helping to purchase Chinese tech as well.

Has anyone had any issues using them on low security areas on DOE or DOD lands?

AND- how many DOI members use and carry cellphones?

This is a really dumb idea.

 

[sar104]

Also, I wonder if this will include the use of Chinese made drones by contractors on BLM land other DOI lands? I have some BLM contracts for archaeological surveys and also use Chinese made GPS units. That could be considered in a way as taxpayer money being used (through my contracts) for helping to purchase Chinese tech as well.

Has anyone had any issues using them on low security areas on DOE or DOD lands?

AND- how many DOI members use and carry cellphones?

This is a really dumb idea.

The DOE situation is mixed. They are completely banned at some sites, but not all.

 

[JAW]

No subscription for WSJ needed to read this:

Department of Interior grounds Chinese drones

A developing story with far-reaching implications. Appearing across multiple outlets the DOI seems to have grounded all Chinese RPAS in its care. Department of the Interior spokesperson Melissa Bro…

www.suasnews.com

Actually, you don't need a subscription to read the article. Just hit the X in the pop up. I think the journal gives you five free reads a month.

 

[AMann]

Actually, you don't need a subscription to read the article. Just hit the X in the pop up. I think the journal gives you five free reads a month.

Unless you used them up like me!
SUASNews is also a great read anyways.

 

[MavicVA]

We need to be aware that REUTERS published this in English, a translation into German (by an otherwise reputable business magazine) can be problematic. The WiWo article appears to add further elements that are indeed based on much older news. Do read the original REUTERS article I linked. It's very short.

The Fortune article (thanks MrChris) seems to add quite some substance above and beyond the REUTERS article, their sources lead us further.

Another problem is that German sources were not aware of the powers of the US Dept of Interior. The DOI in my understanding (I'm not American) not at all comparable with other nation's interior ministries.

Fortune quotes THE VERGE (here US Interior Department is grounding its drone fleet due to risks of Chinese spying)
THE VERGE refers to The WALLSTREET JOURNAL Interior Department Grounds Aerial Drone Fleet, Citing Risk From Chinese Manufacturers

Chinese whispers or what? (pun intended, ha)

The US Dept if the Interior manages federal lands, forests, deserts and such. They have no real authority over the citizenry.