First drone passengers may be combat casualties and criminals

The first passenger-carrying drones may already be in use. These aren’t sophisticated urban air taxis, but crudely modified cargo drones transporting combat casualties and criminals.

Heavy-lift drones are essentially scaled-up versions of the familiar quadcopters. Hair-raising videos of hobbyists carried by home-made drones show that the basic technology is simple enough. But meeting aircraft safety requirements for passenger transport takes years, and drone-makers, including Volocopter, EHang and Eve Air Mobility, are all aiming to get vehicles certified this year or next.

Meanwhile, commercial heavy-lift cargo drones for agricultural and industrial use are rapidly becoming larger and more affordable. The DJI FlyCart 100 that launched last year can carry 85 kilograms and has a list price of just over £10,000. Such drones aren’t certified for passengers, but this may not prevent some operators from transporting people as cargo.

In Ukraine, medical evacuation of wounded personnel is a major challenge due to the omnipresent threat of drone attacks. Uncrewed ground vehicles – robots controlled remotely by human operators – are the preferred method for casualty transport. In August 2025, the commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said that aerial drones were being tested for the role.

“Such drones will inevitably appear, since getting a badly wounded soldier to advanced medical care within the ‘golden hour’ dramatically increases the survival rate,” says Roy Gardiner, with the non-profit group Defense Tech for Ukraine. “The development of heavy multicopter drones that could rapidly evacuate wounded soldiers by air is an urgent priority and (these drones) have been reported in development by both sides.”

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Evacuation by cargo drone is far from ideal. Helicopter air ambulances have a medic on board to monitor the patient and keep them stable. But any transport away from the combat zone and to a medical facility could be a lifesaver, and aerial drones will give a faster and smoother ride than ground robots.

Another group that may be using drones for human transport is criminals. A recent report by DroneSec, an Australia-based intelligence company, has noted increased interest in human-carrying drones. The company highlights a video from Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba showing a heavy-lift drone ferrying a passenger short distances at a training camp. The group is already known for smuggling arms and drugs across the India-Pakistan border.

“These systems can be used for human smuggling… over a secure border wall or obstacle,” says Robert Bunker at US consultancy firm C/O Futures. “The criminals are early innovators and don’t care about drone safety issues, regulations, et cetera.”

Small drones are already used extensively for smuggling contraband into prisons. Larger versions could extract prisoners. They could also transport armed terrorists into secure areas.

“It’s a growing concern, something we need to plan for, especially regarding facility and national borders where high walls and other terrain obstacles like rivers and canyons or ditches are viewed as secure physical barriers,” says Bunker.

Commercial passenger drones will have many safety features and will be extensively tested in all conditions before they enter service. But for those desperate enough for transport regardless of risk, drone flights are likely to be a reality in the very near future.