Three hundred drones lit up the Amsterdam sky above the IJ with a light show on Saturday night. The drones flew in different formations, inspired by the flight patterns of starlings, AT5 reports.
The show premiered in Miami last year. A special exception was made to have the show in Amsterdam on Saturday, because drones are actually forbidden in the airspace around Schiphol airport.
A helicopter ambulance carrying a patient was unable to land at the Leeuwarden Medical Center on Monday night due to a drone. The helicopter had to fly away, because the situation was unsafe, the Telegraaf reports.
After a detour, the helicopter was able to land and the patient was safely transferred to the hospital.
A helicopter ambulance fills the same function as a regular ambulance, only in the sky. Unlike a trauma helicopter, helicopter ambulances don't carry doctors with them.
ProRail is going to use drones and 3D scans to map out trees along the Dutch railway. In this way the rail company wants to identify trees that are at risk of falling over or losing branches before they cause delays on the tracks, NOS reports.
The Nigerian Air Force is prepared to help Shell protect its pipelines in the African country using newly acquired drones, should Shell ask for that help, Air Force commander Sadique Abubakar said, ANP reports.
The Dutch oil giant regularly faces criticism in Nigeria due to pollution. On the mainline, Shell pipelines are often drained and sabotaged, resulting in heavy pollution, according to the oil company. Critics blame the large environmental damage on outdated pipelines and negligence on Shell's part.
Emergency services found a body in recreational lake Hilgelo near Winterswijk while searching for a missing swimmer on Tuesday. The victim has not yet been identified, NU.nl reports.
The missing swimmer is an asylum seeker living in the asylum center in Winterswijk. He disappeared under water after jumping from a raft on Monday. The man was at the water with other asylum seekers from the center.
The Ministry of Defense acquired a few dozen teeny-tiny drones. These Black Hornets will be used by reconnaissance units of the Dutch Armed Forces and Marine Corps, ANP reports.
A Black Hornet is a miniscule helicopter that weighs only 18 grams. It has a rotor span of 12 centimeters and can fly for 25 minutes, taking photos or recording video while it does so. Soldiers can use them to explore a battlefield at a safe distance.
After more than a year, the Dutch police decided to stop using birds of prey to intercept drones. It turned out that there isn't much demand for drone-intercepting eagles, and training the birds is more expensive and complicated than expected, NOS reports.
The Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment granted DroneHub GAE - a cooperation between companies, knowledge institutions and the government - permission to fly drones from Groningen Airport Eelde, GIC reports.
Drones will be used to transport medicine from the Dutch mainland to the Wadden island of Schiermonnikoog in a new experiment by UMCG Ambulance Care and ANWB Medical Air Assistance, NU.nl reports.
The test involves three drones making a total of 30 flights from an unspecified location in Friesland to the helicopter port on the island. The municipality of Schiermonnikoog agreed to the test, under the condition that this will only involve medical flights. The island wants to deter commercial flights, because they disturb the peace.
The Twente fire department had to deploy a drone to guide a woman and two police officers out of the nature reserve in Haaksbergen after they got lost on Tuesday night. The elderly lady got lost while on a walk, and while two police officers were able to find her, they weren't able to find their way back, the Telegraaf reports.
A 35-year-old man from Haarlem was arrested by the Koninklijke Marechaussee for flying a drone at Schiphol Airport. Flying drones near the airport is forbidden, as it can put air traffic in danger, ANP reports.
With the increasing use of drones, the rules of where they can and cannot be used also increased. The Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment published a map showing the areas where drone flying is banned.
From September Limburg farmers will use drones to find illegal cannabis plantations on their land, the Limburg agricultural and horticultural union LLTB announced. According to the union, this is the first such project in the Netherlands, RTL Nieuws reports.
A 21-year-old Ukrainian man was fined 500 euros on Monday for flying a drone in Schiphol's departure hall, the police announced in a statement.
The young man wanted to make a film of his family and friends just before his departure, according to the police. He did not realize that it is illegal in the Netherlands to fly a drone in controlled airspace. Doing so could put air traffic in serious danger.
A 31-year-old man from Haarlem suspected of intentionally chasing animals with a drone, was acquitted by the police court on Monday
A 19-year-old Amsterdam resident was arrested near Schiphol on Saturday afternoon for flying a drone in the vicinity of the airport, the police said in a statement.
A 22 year old Bulgarian man was arrested on Sunday for flying a drone close to a Schiphol runway. The man lost control of the drone and it crashed on the runway.
A spectacular Dutch innovation was showed off at the cyber summit in The Hague on Thursday. A drone that is controlled by thought.
Chimpanzees in the Koninklijke Burgers Zoo outwitted human technology by knocking a drone out of the sky on Friday morning.
Police intercepted a drone over the Huis ten Bosch palace in The Hague on Tuesday night, according to broadcaster NOS. The man who remotely piloted the aircraft was caught and questioned.
Passengers of KLM flight KL875 experienced some tense moments when a small fire erupted in the overhead compartment for hand luggage. The fire started after the plane landed at Bangkok, was extinguished very quickly and everyone on board left the plane safely, Daily Mail reports.
An almost disaster became an internet sensation when Zwier Spanjer's quad-copter captured its own heroic rescue by the 26-year-old Amsterdammer.
The firs lawsuit over "unmanned air vehicles" appeared in the cantonal court in Rotterdam on Thursday. The court must determine whether photographer Roel Dijkstra "participated in the air traffic with a model aircraft" without permission from Rotterdam Airport.
Jelte Keur may face a fine of 7,800 euro for filming the Utrecht Dom Tower with a drone without applying for a permit.
The 14-year-old Pepijn Bruins from Ede was devastated when he heard from the vet that his beloved pet rat, Ratjetoe, had cancer and needed to be put to sleep. With a little inspiration, the teenager knew how he wanted Ratjetoe to be remembered. He turned him into a 'Ratcopter', the Algemeen Dagblad reports.
