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

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania · one day

Wednesday 16 September 2026

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

42

drone flights over Philadelphia that day.

10:36 am

first takeoff; the last was at 11:57 pm.

13 min

median flight. Half were shorter.

Philadelphia police drones flew 42 times on Wednesday 16 September 2026, the first at 10:36 am and the last at 11:57 pm EDT, by Philadelphia Police Department's published record.

42 drawable flights of 42. 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 service76%
  2. Search12%
  3. Other5%
  4. Traffic and crashes5%
  5. Training and testing2%

Flights, in order

42 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
10:36 amCall for service5 mincbabebdf
10:43 amCall for service14 mincd0b4f50
11:08 amCall for service13 mind3b1bbc2
11:10 amCall for service13 minfb677f71
11:44 amOther13 min55985cdb
11:54 amOther15 mine4c0a2d5
12:46 pmCall for service8 min18990dc4
1:29 pmCall for service12 min7255c089
1:46 pmCall for service13 min6d4b3c5e
1:51 pmCall for service12 min1ee529b3
2:27 pmCall for service9 minf4deb89b
2:40 pmCall for service13 mincc11295b
3:35 pmCall for service13 min9357a9f6
4:13 pmSearch12 minf18c1d00
4:24 pmSearch13 min846689ae
4:28 pmCall for service13 min9fc28459
4:42 pmSearch10 min4ef46d0a
4:50 pmCall for service13 min82723666
4:59 pmSearch8 min981a2142
5:18 pmCall for service7 min56088494
5:55 pmTraffic and crashes7 minc7fbc2c8
6:02 pmCall for service12 minc5c95918
6:02 pmCall for service8 min73206889
6:15 pmSearch9 min93fb38f1
6:26 pmCall for service14 min8f24a949
7:01 pmCall for service18 mine1526de6
7:33 pmCall for service12 mine3668133
7:53 pmCall for service13 mincb3fdc28
8:03 pmCall for service7 minf6ca2993
8:24 pmTraffic and crashes9 min18b22d3c
8:45 pmCall for service11 min8d4a4e3d
8:55 pmCall for service5 min077a130e
9:29 pmCall for service17 min42c1a230
9:41 pmCall for service20 min9d71684a
10:00 pmCall for service5 min5098b998
10:04 pmCall for service9 min44917061
10:15 pmCall for service15 min82c5d6a7
10:24 pmCall for service15 min22951e12
10:35 pmCall for service15 mineefec36b
11:06 pmTraining and testing1 min 22 sd748d682
11:41 pmCall for service13 min8e4cdfdf
11:57 pmCall for service15 min411b788f

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.