drone

An air ambulance with an injured person on board was forced to make a detour just before landing in Enschede. A drone was suddenly flying in the helicopter's way. The police called this a life-threatening situation, RTV Oost reports.

The helicopter was on its way to the Medisch Spectrum Twente when a fairly large drone suddenly appeared. "The helicopter had to make a turn in order to land properly and a drone was suddenly flying right there. A collision was only barely prevented", the police said to the broadcaster. It is illegal to fly drones near hospitals.

Around 20 thousand people attended the ninth edition The Passion play in Dordrecht on Thursday evening. The modern retelling of the final hours of Jesus' life happened without incident. The police only arrested one man, for flying a drone above the crowd, RTL Nieuws and NU.nl report.

A drone intended to transport medicine to the island of Schiermonnikoog, crashed in the Wadden Sea during a test flight, Dagblad van het Noorden reports based on government documents. As this was a test flight, the drone had no medication on board.

According to the documents, the TU Delft drone was given the instruction to land while it was still 1.1 kilometers away from the landing platform. As a result, the drone fell 80 meters from the sky and into the ocean. As the drone's coordinates were known, it was quickly found and recovered by a ship.

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. 

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 Critics blame the large environmental damage on outdated pipelines and negligence on Shell's part. 

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.

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.

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.

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 31-year-old man from Haarlem suspected of intentionally chasing animals with a drone, was acquitted by the police court on Monday

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.