1. CityDroneWatch
  2. Pennsylvania
  3. Philadelphia
  4. May 2026
  5. 7

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania · one day

Thursday 7 May 2026

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

30

drone flights over Philadelphia that day.

10:51 am

first takeoff; the last was at 9:46 pm.

9 min

median flight. Half were shorter.

Philadelphia police drones flew 30 times on Thursday 7 May 2026, the first at 10:51 am and the last at 9:46 pm EDT, by Philadelphia Police Department's published record.

30 drawable flights of 30. 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. Drone as first responder50%
  2. Training and testing20%
  3. Call for service20%
  4. Not stated10%

Flights, in order

30 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
10:51 amDrone as first responder16 minb975ef5f
11:14 amDrone as first responder12 minc7c83f31
11:47 amDrone as first responder14 min14a12d62
12:32 pmDrone as first responder11 min266e175c
2:13 pmDrone as first responder7 min577886ce
2:34 pmDrone as first responder7 minad01c815
4:29 pmTraining and testing7 min9a738a56
5:13 pmDrone as first responder8 min674c9ec9
5:24 pmTraining and testing35 s8f1dabcb
5:33 pmCall for service16 mind391721e
5:38 pmDrone as first responder6 min9534e867
5:49 pmDrone as first responder7 min56632cac
6:04 pmTraining and testing9 min4c19fdee
6:25 pmNot stated5 minf57ab350
6:26 pmDrone as first responder16 min1a95c8f0
6:41 pmCall for service11 min37e1dd93
7:02 pmCall for service10 min9d535c8c
7:18 pmDrone as first responder8 min6df9f769
7:19 pmCall for service4 min769f7b3e
7:27 pmCall for service11 min14bae542
7:38 pmTraining and testing5 min18a68280
7:42 pmTraining and testing6 min75b2c98f
7:43 pmDrone as first responder9 minc12b9fc4
7:55 pmTraining and testing6 min3e2100de
7:55 pmNot stated9 minb3d59530
8:30 pmDrone as first responder13 mine36bbeec
8:42 pmCall for service11 minf2e069e4
8:54 pmNot stated14 mind906ecbc
9:35 pmDrone as first responder6 min345f6764
9:46 pmDrone as first responder14 min4648ae74

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.