2024 Aerial Achievement Awards Winners
Congratulations to our 2024 winners
The Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office Reserve Unit (FCSORU) is an all-volunteer team of fully certified law enforcement officers who contribute more than 8,000 hours of service each year. Through a community-funded partnership, the unit launched a Skydio drone program to bring advanced technology to rural areas of Arkansas.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office in Florida is using drones to enhance public safety, with daily deployments supporting search and rescue, tactical missions, and emergency response. Integrated Drone as First Responder (DFR) operations offer critical real-time visibility for deputies on the ground.
At Travis Air Force Base, the 60th Maintenance Group completed the DoD’s first in-house drone training for aircraft inspection, enabling Airmen to detect cracks and corrosion without lifts or harnesses. The program is saving thousands of man-hours while improving readiness and fleet safety.
In residential and commercial areas, AEP’s docked drones inspect distribution lines within a 3-mile radius with a Beyond Visual Line Of Sight (BVLOS) waiver from the FAA. They are the first program to routinely monitor infrastructure in dense, populated environments.
The New York Power Authority uses drones to remotely inspect hazardous, hard-to-access infrastructure including hydropower plants such as dams. By choosing to risk the machine, not the person, NYPA improves safety while capturing detailed visual data—enabling efficient, informed maintenance without sending inspectors into dangerous environments.
Southern California Edison (SCE) is setting a new benchmark in utility drone operations with one of the largest autonomous inspection programs in the country. With more than 100 drones in deployment and additional docked systems on the way, SCE has redefined how inspections are conducted across transmission lines, distribution networks, substations, and high fire risk areas.
Redmond officers responded to a reported missing endangered 80-year-old man who suffers from dementia and diabetes. Officers searched the heavily wooded area nearby but were unable to locate him. A drone was deployed, and the man was found uninjured and reunited with his family.
The Las Vegas Metro Police Department’s DFR program provided critical aerial support during a nighttime rescue on Lone Mountain. Using spotlights and live feeds, the drone team guided rescuers to a stranded climber, helping ensure a safe recovery under challenging conditions.
Since launching in July 2024, West Palm Beach PD’s DFR program has flown over 1,900 missions, with drones often arriving first on scene. Integrated with Axon systems and FAA waivers, the initiative supports patrol, SWAT, and federal partners with real-time aerial intelligence.
Philadelphia Police launched DFR operations in July 2024, supporting incidents from missing persons to major events like the Eagles’ Super Bowl celebration. With proven impact on response and safety, the program is becoming a key asset in the city’s public safety strategy.
Turner Construction’s Digital Superintendent is a fully-autonomous, always-available resource to provide continuous site visibility without increasing headcount. By automating routine site scans and integrating real-time data into existing workflows, they are reducing the lag between observation and action.
American Electric Power checked burned lines at night without sending a lineman into the ash. A WWII era cotton gin burned in Gregory, Texas, taking poles down with it. The bales could not be put out without spreading embers. With the color camera showing nothing through the smoke, crews switched to thermal and cleared the re energized circuit.
The California Department of Transportation now watches unstable slopes without sending a crew. SOAR grew from a federal proof of concept into a statewide network of X10 docks and a mobile command trailer. Over 2,500 flights have run without a system failure, and landslide monitoring has documented more than $1.1 million in savings this year.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department solved its staffing problem by hiring civilian pilots. A department cannot scale aerial response by pulling officers off the street. Trained civilians now fly beside commissioned officers under identical standards. One may never make an arrest, but may be first to see an armed suspect behind a wall.
The Town of Ramapo Police Department proved a small agency can run DFR on two docks. With 110 sworn officers, the department skipped the metropolitan hive model. Its RAPTOR unit flies visible patrols over shopping centers to deter crime rather than only respond, and five of nine remote pilots are certified instructors, including the chief.
Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a critical incident involving two young children, ages 7 and 9, armed with a loaded firearm. Using real-time aerial support from the X10, deputies maintained situational awareness and safely secured the scene—preventing what could have become a deadly force encounter.
2024 Aerial Achievement Award nominees
Akron Police Department
Akron Police Department has shown drone program excellence by using drones in a variety of uses for patrol-led deployment as well as search and rescue. In this video we can see Akron PD using the Skydio X10 at night to help apprehend two trespassers, found at a business plagued by frequent break-ins. Despite a foot chase, the suspects were safely apprehended and charged with felonies.
American Electric Power
American Electric Power is a leader in drone program excellence. With the nation's largest electricity transmission system at nearly 39,000 miles, AEP has a ton of ground to cover. The team at AEP has replaced traditional methods of inspection with drones, and now are moving into remotely operating drones and docked drones. This gives technicians the ability to inspect assets from their office, and respond immediately to system failures. They are reducing outages for their customers, reducing operational costs and providing staff with safer working conditions.
Anderson Police Department
This nomination is for Anderson Police Department’s heroic rescue of an elderly hiker experiencing a heart attack. During Anderson Police Department’s Skydio training at a state park, a real-life rescue ensued. A distressed woman approached officers to tell them her husband had collapsed while hiking. APD immediately deployed a drone to search for the man. With the use of the thermal sensor officers located the man and guided officers to the scene in a matter of minutes. Officers discovered the man had suffered a heart attack and medical assistance was called in. This use of a drone potentially saved this man’s life.
BNSF Railway
BNSF was one of the first adopters of Skydio’s S2 as a tool for asset inspection in 2019. That effort evolved into a full scale production of dock-based asset inventory and protection program with dozens of systems deployed across the US. The BNSF program has made substantial impacts to many UAS programs across the nation. Many team members from the original program have gone on to lead efforts at Amazon Prime Air, Virginia Tech, Aerolane and more.
Caltrans
As part of the USDOT Smart Program, Caltrans prototyped, tested, and successfully deployed a completely off-grid X2 Dock system at a site near the California/Mexico border. This site, to our knowledge, was the first of its kind to rely 100% on solar power, and Starlink for connectivity. This type of innovation sets the stage for off-grid applications across the state of California, allowing for semi-portable, scaled, dock based UAS operations for numerous applications — including construction, bridge inspection, environmental, geotechnical monitoring, and traffic operations missions.
Chicago Police Department
Chicago Police Department scaled their drone program from 0 flights 6 months ago, to now almost daily flights and drone deployment during the Democratic National Convention. One person in particular to recognize from CPD is Marcus Buenrostro, who has led the UAS program from day 1 — organizing the onboarding, training, defining policies and implementation of drones within CPD. CPD is actively scaling their program to incorporate live streaming and plans to add 6 pilots to their team in the next few months.
Colorado State University - Drone Center
Dominion Energy
Thomas Butler “TF”, UAS Manager, and Matt Rogers, Operations Leader for Dominion Energy led the rapid installation of three sites within just four weeks of delivery of drones and docks, along with the fast-tracking of essential waivers. They have plans in place to deploy 15 additional Skydio dock solutions.They’re leveraging our solutions across asset inspection, emergency response, feeder inspection, and security patrol. Their vision positions them as true innovators and leaders in the utility industry.
Flagler County Sheriff’s Office
Flagler County Sheriff's Office drone program has grown to over 12 pilots in a matter of months, having developed a training protocol with collaboration from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and Daytona Beach PD. They have incorporated drones into their patrol shifts. Some of their recent successes include:
- Using thermal drone technology to locate and apprehend a suspect that fled a traffic stop
- Utilizing drones to clear vehicles, reducing risk for officers and minimizing situation escalation
- Search and rescue for missing persons
- Overwatch during high-risk incidents such as warrant services
MassDOT Aeronautics
New York City Police Department - Transit
NYPD is using drones to address the trend of teenagers subway surfing. These acts are difficult to apprehend. But with Skydio drones assisting in observing, identifying and apprehending juveniles, NYPD has seen a decrease in injuries. Since the program was launched with X10 and X2 drones, the NYPD Transit team is able to more effectively capture juvenile subway surfers. NYPD can now present crucial video evidence and for educating the community of the risks of this activity.
New York Power Authority
Over the past year, NYPA has hosted their own annual STEM education summer camp, hosted multiple local schools as well as Boys & Girls Clubs. They are by far one of the most proactive advocates of youth drone education within enterprise companies that are utilizing drones. Peter Kalaitzidis and the team at NYPA are invested in sharing their work with the next generation and routinely make these outreaches a part of their job, not an exception.
Oklahoma City Police Department
Oklahoma City Police Department has achieved remarkable progress and scale with their drone program over the past few years, and recently became the first agency to successfully run a dock-based drone as a first responder program at the Oklahoma State Fair in September 2023 and again in 2024. The immense work Captain Bussert and Sgt. Dax Laporte have done to reach this stage of their drone program speaks to their passion for drone use in public safety to improve community and officer safety with the help of innovative technologies.
Orange County Sheriff’s Office
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office helped save a man experiencing severe mental instabilities in an Orlando high-rise hotel. The individual was screaming and threatening to harm himself. He then set a fire in the hotel room. OCSO deployed an X10 to see inside the hotel room from a window, providing officers on the ground intel on the individual’s location and status. With this intel, officers were able to break into the room safely, apprehend the suspect and provide him with medical care.
Pacific Gas & Electric
This nomination is for PG&E’s work as one of the largest and most advanced drone-based equipment inspection programs in the world. They were the first utility in California to conduct fully remote drone operations for electric system inspections and continue to scale their daily operations with automated inspection missions. PG&E deserves to be recognized for how they automate data capture in the field, providing a triple advantage of increased system, operator, and community safety; reduced time and resources; and cost savings.
Pasco County Sheriff’s Office
Pasco County Sheriff’s Office is leading the drone as a first responder space as evidenced by many life-saving moments. Among these, was a response to a suspect and a missing child. When responders arrived on scene, the suspect fled the property with the child. Based on the suspect’s history and evidence at the property, the missing child was believed to be in grave danger. An hour after drones were deployed, through thermal imagery, the suspect and child were quickly found in a wood pile in a nearby property, and the child was saved.
Sumner County EMA
Sumner County Office of Emergency Management has had many life saving moments with its use of drones. One of those moments occurred when SCOEM responded to a call of a suicidal male, missing in rural Sumner County. Law enforcement and EMS had been attempting to locate the man for hours. SCOEM was called in for assistance. Once on scene, they deployed a Skydio drone and located the man in a corn field within minutes.
Tulsa Fire Department
Gabe Graveline of the Tulsa Fire Department is a passionate advocate who constantly demonstrates the value of UAS platforms nationwide. As a full-time firefighter, Gabe trains, educates, and develops teams and individuals, continuously advancing their expertise. His instrumental role in establishing the Fire Department's Drone as First Responder (DFR) program exemplifies his leadership and vision. Gabe tirelessly works to educate the broader community on the benefits of UAS technology, frequently attending and speaking at meetings and events to foster understanding and support.