1. CityDroneWatch
  2. Pennsylvania
  3. Philadelphia
  4. April 2026
  5. 17

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania · one day

Friday 17 April 2026

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

12

drone flights over Philadelphia that day.

10:45 am

first takeoff; the last was at 6:12 pm.

9 min

median flight. Half were shorter.

Philadelphia police drones flew 12 times on Friday 17 April 2026, the first at 10:45 am and the last at 6:12 pm EDT, by Philadelphia Police Department's published record.

12 drawable flights of 12. 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 service50%
  2. Not stated25%
  3. Drone as first responder17%
  4. Patrol support8%

Flights, in order

12 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
10:45 amCall for service14 min8ae9849c
11:00 amNot stated6 minf54eb8c0
11:11 amDrone as first responder9 mindc27b66d
11:27 amNot stated7 min0a528628
12:14 pmCall for service9 mina320d2e8
1:45 pmNot stated5 min9c91ffef
3:16 pmCall for service10 min1916c867
3:38 pmDrone as first responder9 min4bbc3da1
3:56 pmCall for service8 minb9b56b25
4:09 pmCall for service15 min48b2d711
5:31 pmCall for service8 min51a57da1
6:12 pmPatrol support19 min6753c686

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.