UK funeral homes use drones to scatter ashes of the departed

If aerial activity tracks changes in how societies are modifying funeral services, the demand for drone pilots qualified to scatter cremation ashes from on high may soon rise, as developments in the UK seem to suggest.

A limited yet rising number of funeral homes in the UK are providing cremation ash scattering services by drone as an alternative to ground internment. Although less expensive than traditional burials, the aerial option involves more than merely dropping what for loved ones is a particularly sensitive payload over a specified location. A trailing UAV is also typically flown to film dispersal of the dearly departed’s remains, and the hauling craft has to be powerful enough to carry the task out.

“Cremation remains are surprisingly heavy, so it takes a capable drone to act as our carrier,” said Christopher Mace, founder of Aerial Ashes scattering company in Stokesley, North Yorkshire, in a recent report by The North Echo. “Once…