Harvey Drone Warning from FAA

[andyimages]

August 25 - The FAA warns unauthorized drone operators that they may be subject to significant fines if they interfere with emergency response operations. Flying a drone without authorization in or near the disaster area may violate federal, state, or local laws and ordinances, even if a Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) is not in place. Allow first responders to save lives and property without interference.

More Hurricane Harvey resources are available at: FAA.gov, FEMA.gov and USA.gov.

 

[andyimages]

What does "unauthorized drone" mean? There is not yet a disaster area.......

 

[macoman]

What does "unauthorized drone" mean? There is not yet a disaster area.......

Mean without permission or waiver if you have 107 part.

 

[andyimages]

Mean without permission or waiver if you have 107 part.

Thats not what it says.....it says "may" violate. Its too broad a warning to mean anything........except that they will nail you if they feel like it.

 

[tcope]

Thats not what it says.....it says "may" violate. Its too broad a warning to mean anything........except that they will nail you if they feel like it.

It actually says, "may violate federal, state, or local laws and ordinances". It may violate one, it may violate them all.

 

[andyimages]

It actually says, "may violate federal, state, or local laws and ordinances". It may violate one, it may violate them all.

It also may violate none........but stay away from emergency responders.

 

[SeabeeEO3]

It also may violate none........but stay away from emergency responders.

This is the important part. Why split semantic hairs?

 

[FatherXmas]

Mean without permission or waiver if you have 107 part.

I don't think you need a waiver and I'm 100% sure you do not have to be a part 107 pilot to fly post storm damage assessment and search for victims if you are flying for a volunteer rescue squad at the request of the county or state EMA. I'm a member of the local rescue squad here and we have done that. Key word for the part 107 is 'volunteer'.

 

[sar104]

It's completely obvious what it means - it means do not interfere with emergency operations if you are not operating under the Incident Command Systems running those operations.

 

[Peter Hartmann]

As a general aviation operator, I sure as heck don't want some drone coming thru my windshield & ruining my day. I am sure various public service/rescue air-crew feel the same way.

B U T

Let's be honest here. There are a lot of "special interests" who want to have absolute control over what we can find out. Knowledge is power. The individual gathering info. with a drone is infuriating to them.

Can you blame someone - well...in the news business , or someone conducting some gross health or environment hazard business, for their hating our ability to go have a "look-see" ?

And of course these people will use their influence over law enforcement to try and curtail our ability to do just that. Some of you have made reference to a certain major cattle ranch in the Central Valley of California, and what they did in the way clearly unlawful harassment of some people with drones photographing what they were up to. I suggest folks who don't believe how silly and bad this can become, should "google" that.

Isn't it interesting what has happened to television news journalism in recent years! For one thing, in any given hour of broadcast, more time spent in advertising, less time spent on what passes for news these days.

The TV stations USED to have depts. that would look at footage shot by "stringers" ( amatuers who were hoping their news shot would be considered worth-while. As more and more TV networks have effectively closed down their news depts., there is no-one for the "stringer" to contact with their footage. Today's TV news "journalists" are there simply to fill broadcast space between those ever longer commercials. Last thing they want us people like us going out and getting REAL news, for fear some competitive station just might give it a try, those effectively exposing what most have become.

 

[David Cooke]

Worthwhile thoughts

 

[rvrrat14]

Texas Game Wardens

 

[YogiFlyer]

I don't think you need a waiver and I'm 100% sure you do not have to be a part 107 pilot to fly post storm damage assessment and search for victims if you are flying for a volunteer rescue squad at the request of the county or state EMA. I'm a member of the local rescue squad here and we have done that. Key word for the part 107 is 'volunteer'.

This has been discussed extensively here, but I'll bite. Flying a drone even as a volunteer for any state, local, or federal agency falls either under a public use certificate of authorization (COA) that the agency holds, or under Part 107. Just because you aren't paid doesn't make it "hobby". If you don't have either, it's violating the law...period.

 

[QuadKid]

I say just let the Pro's do their job, besides UT will be full of aerial footage for many months to come.

 

[FatherXmas]

This has been discussed extensively here, but I'll bite. Flying a drone even as a volunteer for any state, local, or federal agency falls either under a public use certificate of authorization (COA) that the agency holds, or under Part 107. Just because you aren't paid doesn't make it "hobby". If you don't have either, it's violating the law...period.

You are mistaken. I consulted with an attorney that specializes in aircraft law including sUAV.

Edit: Additionally, here's an actual sample test question .. Note that one of the incorrect answers is a search mission.
Which of the following operations would be regulated by 14 CFR 107?

· Conducting public operations during a search mission

· Flying for enjoyment with family and friends

· Operating your sUAS for an imagery company

 

[YogiFlyer]

You are mistaken. I consulted with an attorney that specializes in aircraft law including sUAV.

Edit: Additionally, here's an actual sample test question .. Note that one of the incorrect answers is a search mission.
Which of the following operations would be regulated by 14 CFR 107?

· Conducting public operations during a search mission

· Flying for enjoyment with family and friends

· Operating your sUAS for an imagery company

Yes, because a search and rescue mission can be conducted under a COA, and many times is. I hope this same attorney plans to defend you when the FAA comes calling. Your question means nothing, by the way as you provide no FAA documentation to support your position.

 

[David Cooke]

[emoji106]

 

[YogiFlyer]

To support what I'm saying, please see question #3 under the NON-RECREATIONAL section. I think you need to find a new attorney.

Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Frequently Asked Questions

I am part of a Federal/State/local government office – how can I fly a UAS to support a specific mission e.g. search and rescue?
You may either operate under the Part 107 rule, or you may be eligible to conduct public aircraft operations for which you would need to apply for a public Certificate of Waiver or Authorization (COA) for certain operations.

 

[BigAl07]

I don't think you need a waiver and I'm 100% sure you do not have to be a part 107 pilot to fly post storm damage assessment and search for victims if you are flying for a volunteer rescue squad at the request of the county or state EMA. I'm a member of the local rescue squad here and we have done that. Key word for the part 107 is 'volunteer'.

You are emphatically incorrect and it sounds like your attorney friend needs to contact the FSDO and get some clarification.

No portion of Search & Rescue is consider Recreational. Not now nor has it ever been. Go to some of the SAR groups and see how upset they are because SAR requires Part 107. ANYTHING that is outside of Hobby/Recreational flights must be conducted under either a Public Use COA or Part 107. There is no "Grey Area" here and it's only going to get worse with literally hundreds if not thousands of "Self Dispatch" UAS operators hitting the skies.

Search & Rescue is considered a CIVIL flight and as such requires COA or Part 107 to be legal. If your attorney tells you otherwise and you abide by it, you'd better make sure both have some deep pockets and can afford the hassle it can bring to the table.

 

[YogiFlyer]

You are emphatically incorrect and it sounds like your attorney friend needs to contact the FSDO and get some clarification.

No portion of Search & Rescue is consider Recreational. Not now nor has it ever been. Go to some of the SAR groups and see how upset they are because SAR requires Part 107. ANYTHING that is outside of Hobby/Recreational flights must be conducted under either a Public Use COA or Part 107. There is no "Grey Area" here and it's only going to get worse with literally hundreds if not thousands of "Self Dispatch" UAS operators hitting the skies.

Search & Rescue is considered a CIVIL flight and as such requires COA or Part 107 to be legal. If your attorney tells you otherwise and you abide by it, you'd better make sure both have some deep pockets and can afford the hassle it can bring to the table.

Yep...and depending on how egregious the violations are will dictate how pissed off they are and how miserable your life will become. I'm a member of Civil Air Patrol and although I haven't heard much recently about it, I know this is something they are looking at using, but they don't hold a national COA, so each operator would need a Part 107 license to use them in a real world scenario. I'm not certain on how far along they are in the process of using sUAVs operationally, though.