1. CityDroneWatch
  2. Pennsylvania
  3. Philadelphia
  4. April 2026
  5. 16

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania · one day

Thursday 16 April 2026

25 drone flights from Philadelphia Police Department's published record.

25

drone flights over Philadelphia that day.

12:54 pm

first takeoff; the last was at 11:10 pm.

10 min

median flight. Half were shorter.

Philadelphia police drones flew 25 times on Thursday 16 April 2026, the first at 12:54 pm and the last at 11:10 pm EDT, by Philadelphia Police Department's published record.

25 drawable flights of 25. Each path is the whole flight, simplified; a flight with a sensitive stated purpose is drawn as an area.
One flight, takeoff to landingSensitive-purpose flight, as an area

Hour by hour

Takeoffs by hour, EDT.

12a1a2a3a4a5a6a7a8a9a10a11a12p1p2p3p4p5p6p7p8p9p10p11p

Why, in the agency's words

  1. Call for service40%
  2. Drone as first responder20%
  3. Not stated16%
  4. Patrol support16%
  5. Other8%

Flights, in order

25 flights. Those in the latest full month link to their own page; a flight with a sensitive stated purpose has no page of its own.

Takeoff (EDT)PurposeAirborneFlight
12:54 pmNot stated7 minef319f01
1:16 pmNot stated14 minf43de118
1:20 pmDrone as first responder12 min82d5734d
1:33 pmNot stated8 mincc30b96c
1:45 pmCall for service14 min1908b0e7
2:18 pmCall for service8 min2efbf12f
2:37 pmDrone as first responder19 min35077f2a
2:57 pmCall for service5 mindd508b9d
3:09 pmCall for service9 min632f2115
3:23 pmCall for service14 mindb5d5552
4:36 pmDrone as first responder24 minef9cdeb9
5:01 pmOther20 minea7f9027
5:27 pmOther20 min604de178
5:58 pmNot stated7 min796c86db
6:29 pmCall for service7 min28b9f9d9
6:43 pmPatrol support16 min974f9c3f
7:08 pmPatrol support8 min840c6291
7:17 pmPatrol support21 min9b2ebd13
7:51 pmDrone as first responder8 min021296ca
8:09 pmCall for service6 minef6b4a20
9:02 pmDrone as first responder10 mind3015531
9:15 pmCall for service9 min0522bcdf
9:45 pmCall for service7 minc07b0334
10:09 pmPatrol support18 minb3bafc9b
11:10 pmCall for service12 min15c81ffd

How this page is made

  • Every flight in the agency's published record is counted and listed; drawn paths are the whole flight, takeoff to landing.
  • The record's free-text description is never read into a page. A flight whose stated purpose names a domestic, sexual-assault, kidnapping, welfare, mental-health or juvenile matter is listed like any other but drawn as a generalised area, not a path.
  • Operators are the agency's own accounts in the record, numbered within the agency in order of first flight; no name or address is read into a page.
  • Purposes are the agency's own words, grouped into classes by a fixed list of terms; unmatched values are "Other" and blank ones "Not stated".
  • Times are shown on the agency's own local clock.
  • A day is the agency's local calendar day of takeoff.

Corrections and questions: see the about page. See about this site for the sources and the publication rules.