Drone with camera found on Fort Worth,Texas Military Base runway

[KongWerks]

Could have blown in the wind for miles. Probably not, but possible.

More likely some 10 year old kid flying his new present from his back yard and it got away from him.

If you want the flier prosecuted for breaking the rules then we will have to take a more serious look at Beyond VLOS fliers as it would appear that many incidents occur in BVLOS situations.

 

[WV. Rootman]

Could have blown in the wind for miles. Probably not, but possible.

More likely some 10 year old kid flying his new present from his back yard and it got away from him.

If you want the flier prosecuted for breaking the rules then we will have to take a more serious look at Beyond VLOS fliers as it would appear that many incidents occur in BVLOS situations.

I think the article was blown out of proportion. They just wanted to get the drama so people will read their article. It was a kid's toy drone, what rules? I don't think that beyond VLOS is a big problem. I think it is the learning curve. We never talk about it, but I wonder how many people are flying under the influence.?

 

[Shoemaker]

TU for ur service!
USN Retired

 

[ArmyVet]

TU for ur service!
USN Retired

Not sure who you were referring to? But,Thank You on behalf of all the great Men and Woman who have served! And I will humbly accept your Thanks.
And Thank You! For Your Service!

 

[Just_nick]

Could have been a flyaway....what's the big deal?

Clearly you don't understand how big of a deal FOD is, nor did you consider the implications. We had to stop the ambulance and do FOD checks on the tires before crossing onto the flight line. Here we have what could weigh half a pound, with the ability to cause hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars of damage to an aircraft, and the possible death of the pilot. If he was airborne and struck it, and lost control into a populated area, there's the possibility of hundreds of deaths.

Doesn't matter if it's a flyaway or intentional, the danger of this is real.

 

[WV. Rootman]

Clearly you don't understand how big of a deal FOD is, nor did you consider the implications. We had to stop the ambulance and do FOD checks on the tires before crossing onto the flight line. Here we have what could weigh half a pound, with the ability to cause hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars of damage to an aircraft, and the possible death of the pilot. If he was airborne and struck it, and lost control into a populated area, there's the possibility of hundreds of deaths.

Doesn't matter if it's a flyaway or intentional, the danger of this is real.

Post 16 said that the military gives these thing away to the kids on base for Christmas. Has anything thing as bad as you stated ever happened over something under 8 oz?

 

[ArmyVet]

Toy Drone or professional. Gift originating on base or not. 8 oz or 20 lbs. Makes no difference.

FAA Restricts Drone Operations Over Certain Military Bases.

FAA Restricts Drone Operations Over Certain Military Bases

I interpret this to mean no drone flying. How the children on base are impacted is up to someone else.

Forth Worth Naval Air-station is a restricted area by the FAA.

 

[captainmilehigh]

What really puzzles me is the lack of pending regulation on drones. I would think the FAA and DHS (among others) would be all over the drone manufacturers to put in place drone limiting systems similar to DJI’s GeoFencing and NFZ controls.

The drone that ended up on base did not have this capability to avoid the airbase or airport, whereas many of ours do. For example, my P3S won’t fly across an airport runway, but my little Hubsan X4 will.....not that I would even consider doing that.

I guess we’ll just have to sit back and see what the future brings.

Meanwhile, the little $99 Wally-World drones can fly around airports, military bases, the White House, over prisons, and anywhere else with no restrictions.

No, I’m not trashing drones,....I love mine, .......just giving us something to think about as our hobby progresses.

Wish us luck. We might need it...[emoji106]

 

[sar104]

What really puzzles me is the lack of pending regulation on drones. I would think the FAA and DHS (among others) would be all over the drone manufacturers to put in place drone limiting systems similar to DJI’s GeoFencing and NFZ controls.

The drone that ended up on base did not have this capability to avoid the airbase or airport, whereas many of ours do. For example, my P3S won’t fly across an airport runway, but my little Hubsan X4 will.....not that I would even consider doing that.

I guess we’ll just have to sit back and see what the future brings.

Meanwhile, the little $99 Wally-World drones can fly around airports, military bases, the White House, over prisons, and anywhere else with no restrictions.

No, I’m not trashing drones,....I love mine, .......just giving us something to think about as our hobby progresses.

Wish us luck. We might need it...[emoji106]

They might like the manufacturers to do that but there does not seem to be any legal basis for requiring it. DJI appears to be the only company that has made much effort to do this proactively.

 

[captainmilehigh]

Yeah, that’s pretty much my point. There isn’t any legal pressure to be in compliance with any regulations or guidelines. That’s what puzzles me, that some government agency hasn’t gone ballistic with some manufacturer requirements yet.

 

[oconnb]

This was a cheapie little toy probably made with ultra flimsy plastic probably weighs close to nothing and it was most likely fly away. I think that newspaper that wrote the article originally was doing just that over sensationalizing it and it’s crazy how it gets everybody so fired up like that! And I do not believe that anybodys life was in jeopardy here

 

[sar104]

Yeah, that’s pretty much my point. There isn’t any legal pressure to be in compliance with any regulations or guidelines. That’s what puzzles me, that some government agency hasn’t gone ballistic with some manufacturer requirements yet.

But based on what requirement? Agencies such as the FAA can't just make up requirements, especially when Congress has explicitly forbidden it.

 

[captainmilehigh]

But based on what requirement? Agencies such as the FAA can't just make up requirements, especially when Congress has explicitly forbidden it.

I was agreeing with you on post #29.

 

[AndrewCCM]

Clearly you don't understand how big of a deal FOD is, nor did you consider the implications. We had to stop the ambulance and do FOD checks on the tires before crossing onto the flight line. Here we have what could weigh half a pound, with the ability to cause hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars of damage to an aircraft, and the possible death of the pilot. If he was airborne and struck it, and lost control into a populated area, there's the possibility of hundreds of deaths.

Doesn't matter if it's a flyaway or intentional, the danger of this is real.

I used to live in Fort Worth... (now in Mansfield/Arlington area).

There are birds that fly around the Carswell (or Joint reserve...whatever they’re calling it these days) base that are bigger and heavier than that toy. I would hope the military planes can withstand more than that.

Regardless, I agree that its not a good situation. As many others have stated, more than likely it was a kid flying where they shouldn’t have. If this was the case, nothing is going to stop that from happening short of outlawing RC quads/planes/etc. altogether. It would suck if these types of incidents cause such a crack down and I understand the concern (both danger to the pilots/aircraft and to the hobbiests affected). Kids will be kids and I doubt they even thought about the implications.

Also, I believe what the other gentlemen meant by no security issue was that it was more than likely not a deliberate act of spying/etc...

I could be wrong...Just some thoughts...

Andrew

 

[AndrewCCM]

I think the article was blown out of proportion. They just wanted to get the drama so people will read their article. It was a kid's toy drone, what rules? I don't think that beyond VLOS is a big problem. I think it is the learning curve. We never talk about it, but I wonder how many people are flying under the influence.?

The article is sensationalized a bit due to the company selling “Airspace Security” tools and “Drone detection” Services...

Not saying it isn’t a serious issue. However....

They have a bit of incentive to make it sound more sinister than it probably was. Just a hunch.

 

[ARM]

YEA the media, they give us pilots a bad name!!

 

[Alicatt]

Apart from the colour and a different spec camera it looks the same as my Syma drone, in flight ready condition it weighs in at 800g (28oz) and the battery lasts around 7 - 8 minutes, controller range is about 150m or so, the video feed cuts out at under 100m and they are prone to fly away with the wind.

While it is so wrong to have the drone end up there, their article headline about it landing on the runway and the image they show stating it was 1900ft from the runway (580m) that is a fair bit of exaggeration.

 

[AndrewCCM]

Media = Marketing in this case (me thinks). Of course, these days, news media/marketing seem to be one in the same...