Hey guys, been a Phantom owner for a week and asking a hypothetical question to get more familiar with my rights.
Does a park ranger have authority to say I can't fly my drone on the property?
So far I've mostly just been practicing in large, empty school playgrounds in the evenings. But yesterday I took it to a Seattle park and flew it around for 5-10 minutes. I was very respectful, there were several couples sitting by the river enjoying dinner and watching the boats and sunset. I flew nowhere near people, animals, boats, cars, planes and kept it at a distance to minimize noise. I had a friendly jogger stop by and ask questions and took several photos and video then left. Nobody bothered me but as I was leaving the park I walked by the first uniformed park ranger I had seen and he kind of looked at me and what I was carrying but didn't stop me or say anything. The blades were off so he probably couldn't tell if I had been flying it or just passing through the park. I don't know if someone had complained or not about the noise but I guess in theory they could have.
I guess my question is, can they legally ask me to leave and/or stop flying because it's disturbing the peace or say they just don't allow it?
I've never really heard of anyone getting tickets or cited, can it happen?
I know the recent Amazon employee flew his drone by the Space Needle and the cops showed up at his room but I don't remember hearing if anything ever happened. I'll definitely stay away from famous landmarks though!
Does a park ranger have authority to say I can't fly my drone on the property?
So far I've mostly just been practicing in large, empty school playgrounds in the evenings. But yesterday I took it to a Seattle park and flew it around for 5-10 minutes. I was very respectful, there were several couples sitting by the river enjoying dinner and watching the boats and sunset. I flew nowhere near people, animals, boats, cars, planes and kept it at a distance to minimize noise. I had a friendly jogger stop by and ask questions and took several photos and video then left. Nobody bothered me but as I was leaving the park I walked by the first uniformed park ranger I had seen and he kind of looked at me and what I was carrying but didn't stop me or say anything. The blades were off so he probably couldn't tell if I had been flying it or just passing through the park. I don't know if someone had complained or not about the noise but I guess in theory they could have.
I guess my question is, can they legally ask me to leave and/or stop flying because it's disturbing the peace or say they just don't allow it?
I've never really heard of anyone getting tickets or cited, can it happen?
I know the recent Amazon employee flew his drone by the Space Needle and the cops showed up at his room but I don't remember hearing if anything ever happened. I'll definitely stay away from famous landmarks though!