At the request of the Brazilian military, you won’t be able to fly DJI drones near any Olympic venues.
DJI has updated the software on its drones to apply temporary no-fly zones near Olympic venues in Rio, Sao Paulo and other locations where the games are taking place.
DJI has taken similar precautions during other big events around the world, including both the Republican National Convention and Democratic National Convention in the United States in 2016, the G7 Summit in Japan and the Euro 2016 football tournament in France.
“The coordinates of the no-fly zones were recommended by the Brazilian military, which is in charge of protecting airspace during the athletic events,” DJI said in a release. “They include six zones in Rio de Janeiro and one zone each in Sao Paulo, Brasilia, Belo Horizonte, Manaus, and Salvador.”
The restrictions will, of course, be lifted soon after the games end on August 21.
A no-fly zone was also placed over Super Bowl 50 in Santa Clara, Calif. earlier this year. The Federal Aviation Administration said there were four airspace violations during Super Bowl 50, but none of the incidents involved drones. In the US, drones have been banned from flying above sporting events since at least 2014. Here’s some details on those restrictions, courtesy NOTAM FDC 4/3621:
All aircraft operations; including parachute jumping, unmanned aircraft and remote controlled aircraft, are prohibited within a 3 NMR up to and including 3000 FT AGL of any stadium having a seating capacity of 30,000 or more people where either a regular or post season Major League Baseball, National Football League, or NCAA division one football game is occurring. This NOTAM also applies to NASCAR Sprint Cup, Indy Car, and Champ Series races excluding qualifying and pre-race events.
