1. CityDroneWatch
  2. Pennsylvania
  3. Philadelphia
  4. May 2026
  5. 20

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania · one day

Wednesday 20 May 2026

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

15

drone flights over Philadelphia that day.

10:37 am

first takeoff; the last was at 10:33 pm.

14 min

median flight. Half were shorter.

Philadelphia police drones flew 15 times on Wednesday 20 May 2026, the first at 10:37 am and the last at 10:33 pm EDT, by Philadelphia Police Department's published record.

15 drawable flights of 15. 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 responder60%
  2. Call for service33%
  3. Training and testing7%

Flights, in order

15 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
10:37 amCall for service6 minb974d863
11:10 amCall for service8 min6041cc6e
12:06 pmDrone as first responder15 min64b96db5
12:06 pmCall for service14 min01a77697
1:05 pmDrone as first responder17 min7ea02fc9
1:19 pmCall for service7 min0d914d11
1:25 pmDrone as first responder15 minc2152bac
1:53 pmDrone as first responder16 minae50e95d
2:18 pmDrone as first responder20 min3f153a3e
3:05 pmDrone as first responder17 min5159d639
3:19 pmCall for service10 minacc9bf8e
3:23 pmDrone as first responder16 minf3314b08
10:05 pmTraining and testing1 min 15 sfa5af5df
10:06 pmDrone as first responder1 min 32 s77f18804
10:33 pmDrone as first responder5 min74a58f18

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.