No fly around wildfires

[Sky Wombat]

news report about an individual being charged with flying a drone around an Arizona fire ground. As report comes from an impeccable source (Facebook) seems legitimate when followed.
"A man was arrested in Prescott, Arizona for flying a #drone into the airspace near the #GoodwinFire that as of Friday had burned over 25,000 acres southeast of the city..."
http://fireaviation.com/…/man-arrested-and-charged-with-fl…/
Heaps of info about 'if you fly we can't' but seems message still isn't getting through

 

[gringorio]

news report about an individual being charged with flying a drone around an Arizona fire ground. As report comes from an impeccable source (Facebook) seems legitimate when followed.
"A man was arrested in Prescott, Arizona for flying a #drone into the airspace near the #GoodwinFire that as of Friday had burned over 25,000 acres southeast of the city..."
http://fireaviation.com/…/man-arrested-and-charged-with-fl…/
Heaps of info about 'if you fly we can't' but seems message still isn't getting through

Yes, this has been in the news here in AZ, not just FB.

 

[JetFalcon]

Seriously though why is a helicopter so scared of a drone? That's like if a hawk suddenly became scared of crashing into hummingbirds.

 

[Sky Wombat]

All aircraft, especially helicopters, operating on fire drops do so in a high intensity environment. This usually involves slow speed runs at very low altitude to drop fire retardant or water onto the active fire front. Occasionally the drop aircraft (if it's large) is preceded by a spotter who leads them in. At any time there can be up to several aircraft operating in a tightly confined space and monitoring several radios etc. All this plus obscured vision and disruptive air currents from fire & terrain. If it's a helicopter then it's odds on they are trailing a fire bucket attached by a line to the body of the craft. So if a drone suddenly appears it creates a major problem such as entanglement, distraction, impact etc. If you search under 'if you fly we can't' you'll find better explanations than I can.

 

[gringorio]

Seriously though why is a helicopter so scared of a drone? That's like if a hawk suddenly became scared of crashing into hummingbirds.

Recreational drone operators like yourself need to rethink this view point. Clipboard hitting rotor caused fatal copter crash | HeraldNet.com

 

[JTorsrud]

Recreational drone operators like yourself need to rethink this view point. Clipboard hitting rotor caused fatal copter crash | HeraldNet.com

IN MOST CASES, In most cases the FAA will issue a TFR (Temporary Flight Restriction) for forest fires, presidential activity and many other situations that require the airspace to be protected. Pilots of regular aircraft know this! As a Retired Air Traffic Controller, these TFR's go up almost immediately upon any flying activity that is required to combat the fire! On the other hand, Common Sense should dictate that it is not safe to be flying around a Forest Fire, period. But, you have to have Common Sense in the first place.

 

[tcope]

Seriously though why is a helicopter so scared of a drone? That's like if a hawk suddenly became scared of crashing into hummingbirds.

First, not even close.

Second, if it were, it would be like a hawk smashing into a hummingbird at 60mph.

 

[FpcShane08]

I fly HEMS as well and I know how stressful it can be getting into tight spots with regular obstacles adding a non experienced person flying a drone where they shouldn't just complicates mine and their jobs, I love drones but people that do dumb things and don't learn about aviation and what drones can do are gonna screw it up for everyone else, before u fly use common sense, look and see if you are gonna be near an active airport/heliport, make sure there aren't any TFRs in place and finally check NOTAMs these are things a responsible drone pilot should do, when we are flying drones in areas with crop dusters I'll put up a NOTAM so hopefully they will see it and they don't talk on radios most of the time.... we have to stay safe when flying any type of aircraft man or unmanned

 

[Jeff watson]

You guys don't get it. Politicians are salivating for the chance to legislate anti-drone laws. What you need to understand, legislatures job is to syphon wealth off the middle class. That means their going to burn you for money if you break their laws. The last thing we need is more drone laws.

I live in Prescott. If they had not caught this guy, everyone who saw me flying my drone would be asking if I was the @@@h@le that was flying over the fire and stopped the fire fighting for over an hour.

 

[Southern Style]

Agree... Anytime there is an emergency operation taking place, people (DRONE PILOTS) need to ask themselves a question:

"Is It More Important That I Get This Shot? Or Is it More Important That The Emergency Teams Get The Situation Resolved"

There is your answer.. Let the Emergency Units do their job, it more important to save lives and save property than it is for you to get that footage that the local news station will probably only give you $50 for.......

 

[stitch0852]

Watching Weather Nation this morning. TWICE they repeated the same story (before and immediately after a commercial break) of how a drone spotted near a fire in Utah grounded firefighting aerial efforts. As a direct result the fire instensified and evacuations had to be performed.

If you are bonehead stupid enough to fly around a wildfire and your actions cause more property damages or death because of grounding of aerial firefighting efforts, YOU SHOULD FACE PROSECUTION!

I would like a photo of a fire, but not at the expense of lives, property, and homes.

All those doing this are succeeding in doing is earning a bad reputation for these machines and highlighting the irresponsibility of those operating them.

It affects us all! Stop it!

 

[Sagebrush]

Seriously though why is a helicopter so scared of a drone? That's like if a hawk suddenly became scared of crashing into hummingbirds.

Because your drone can easily take out a helicopter's tail rotor or engine and result in death.

Capish?

SB