Police stopped me

[Turbejb]

Yesterday is the first time I've been interrogated (sorta) by police for flying my drone. Flew at Huntington Beach Pier, where they had the US Open of Surf. I set up my drone and fly for about 5 seconds until police walked over and told me to land my drone.

I land it and they start telling me how the sponsors of event have Proprietary ownership of the area for the surf competition. Saying only drones who work for event can be there. Otherwise I believe it's fine any other day.

They make me wait like 10-15 min for their undercover detective to explain stuff to me. Stuff about FAA and how I need to call the heliport. And keep saying how the FAA could get involved and fine me, and educated me how crazy the FAA are on drones.

I fly at the beach all the time. But I assume we just have to share the airspace with helicopters and other planes. Most aircraft tend to fly over the water, further than I would wanna fly my drone. But do I have to call the heliports and be all serious on where my drone will be flying?

It's a paid for function aND they paid the faa fow a waiver. This is sop. You cant do any public event if would do not have a certificate and a faa waver!

 

[Turbejb]

Sounds like utter nonsense from bored officers, who clearly have no idea of the regs.
Did you see other sUAVs in the vicinity?

 

[maxheadspace]

Pasadena just passed a municipal code against drone flying. Los Angeles has had one for most of 2017. There is a local beach city that also has one but I don't remember which one. These are directed towards the hobbiest.

In May I spent a few weeks flying the coastal area from LA to San Diego. That area is a minefield of local drone ordinances, from zero to criminal act. Flying in certain areas of Santa Monica is a misdemeanor offense. San Diego area had almost no drone restrictions. Anytime I flew in California I would check the city ordinances on line first. I flew on Huntington Beach because the city had no drone ordinance other than to abide by FAA rules. The OP’s issue touched on a lot of legal topics, like land management and intellectual property, not just FAA controlled airspace. You’d almost need to be a lawyer to sort that out, and the cop isn’t going to debate the legal details on the spot.

 

[PhanSurveys]

I just got my FAA 107 and as far as FAA regulations are concerned when you are in a public place you are not allowed to fly over people EVER. The only people you are allowed to fly over are the people on YOUR crew ex: the RPIC, the operator, and the visual observer.

Aside from the crowd, when flying within ANY airspace that could involve interaction with manned aircraft you MUST contact the tower or self announce and monitor the closest towers CTAF frequencies. In other words several regulations other than the rights to the competition were being violated. You're lucky you got out without a ticket or an FAA fine.

 

[Dejan Smaic]

I work in HB but have never flown there. Other than the drilling platforms the only heliports I know of are at Civic Center and HBPD. Yes, I think both are within 5 miles of the pier. I don't buy the "proprietary ownership" argument though, considering the throngs of photographers lining the railings at the pier.

Bottom line is I think they just wanted you to go away and come back another day.

When doing video at certain sporting events, event owners / management are very tight on rights. Stills, those can be a different matter. Also, amateurs taking video are not likely to have media passes and fall off the radar unless you are in the event and on the "front line" during the event.

My question is this: can the police enforce FAA regs (what seems to be in your case), and enforce event policy (which also seems to be the case). NOTAMs I can understand and for security purposes...

 

[Dejan Smaic]

I just got my FAA 107 and as far as FAA regulations are concerned when you are in a public place you are not allowed to fly over people EVER. The only people you are allowed to fly over are the people on YOUR crew ex: the RPIC, the operator, and the visual observer.

Aside from the crowd, when flying within ANY airspace that could involve interaction with manned aircraft you MUST contact the tower or self announce and monitor the closest towers CTAF frequencies. In other words several regulations other than the rights to the competition were being violated. You're lucky you got out without a ticket or an FAA fine.

Realistically, you are always flying over someone unless you are in a forest or corn field. Be real.

 

[Dejan Smaic]

In May I spent a few weeks flying the coastal area from LA to San Diego. That area is a minefield of local drone ordinances, from zero to criminal act. Flying in certain areas of Santa Monica is a misdemeanor offense. San Diego area had almost no drone restrictions. Anytime I flew in California I would check the city ordinances on line first. I flew on Huntington Beach because the city had no drone ordinance other than to abide by FAA rules. The OP’s issue touched on a lot of legal topics, like land management and intellectual property, not just FAA controlled airspace. You’d almost need to be a lawyer to sort that out, and the cop isn’t going to debate the legal details on the spot.

The problem here is event "rights". If say NBC, ESPN, or whatever has video rights, identified shooting video without a release will most likely get you a letter from an attorney representing the media outlet owning rights to teh event.

 

[PhanSurveys]

Realistically, you are always flying over someone unless you are in a forest or corn field. Be real.

Not always, if they are indoors or in a vehicle it isn't considered flying over, also those are the rules realistic or not.

 

[Dejan Smaic]

Not always, if they are indoors or in a vehicle it isn't considered flying over, also those are the rules realistic or not.

True...Someone walking, working on a yard, etc...or in a park. Just saying, it happens whether you know it or not.

 

[Dronut2]

Yesterday is the first time I've been interrogated (sorta) by police for flying my drone. Flew at Huntington Beach Pier, where they had the US Open of Surf. I set up my drone and fly for about 5 seconds until police walked over and told me to land my drone.

I land it and they start telling me how the sponsors of event have Proprietary ownership of the area for the surf competition. Saying only drones who work for event can be there. Otherwise I believe it's fine any other day.

They make me wait like 10-15 min for their undercover detective to explain stuff to me. Stuff about FAA and how I need to call the heliport. And keep saying how the FAA could get involved and fine me, and educated me how crazy the FAA are on drones.

I fly at the beach all the time. But I assume we just have to share the airspace with helicopters and other planes. Most aircraft tend to fly over the water, further than I would wanna fly my drone. But do I have to call the heliports and be all serious on where my drone will be flying?

I have called reserve training centers before flying. If it not an official no-fly zone, you can probably fly and the officer is overstepping. Drones can be considered a distraction or danger during sporting events with crowds. As a courtesy, I would follow the officer's advice, but still check with the owning entity. Don't mess with the police. Even if you win this one, you can't win. They can tag you for your underwear band showing.

 

[Dronut2]

I'm curious as to how cops get "educated" about FAA regs and drone laws? I really can't see a bunch of cops sitting in a room getting a very thorough explanation of all current U.S. drone regulations from an FAA expert. Gut feeling tells me their "sarge" just tells them to go home and look up drones on Google and that will suffice for their "legal expertise" in dealing with drone pilots.

I was stopped by a Barney Fife type cop in a small Ohio town last year when I was flying my P3P in a public park. I didnt know RC models were prohibited in all public parks in that particular county, so it was my fault for not knowing the local ordinances. However, what made me angry was his accusation that I was "harassing people" with my drone simply because it was 75 feet above their heads and posed a "theoretical danger" if it fell out of the sky and hit someone. So then we got into a polite but heated discussion about what exactly constitutes "theoretical danger" of drones and I proceeded to tell him that baseball is legal in the public parks and people have been known to be seriously injured by flying bats and baseballs in the history of the United States. So why isn't baseball banned in parks like drones? Luckily I was able to keep my cool and be polite to this Barney Fife tough guy with a badge --- but it clearly illustrates the uphill battle we friendly and educated drone pilots have against the macho guys with guns and badges who think they are all Supreme Court justices with their knowledge of the law.

Do not make a 6 foot third grader with a gun and badge angry. I have met real winners in my town. The smart ones are all in Evesham. Many have Masters degrees. Cream of tbe crop!

 

[gwilson001]

And this is why we can't have nice things.

By your account, you took a hostile stance with the police officer. For what purpose? To prove that you knew more about FAA rules and regulations? The man was just trying to do his job.

When people take the attitude that they have a constitutional right to fly anywhere, we end up with laws completely ban their usage. Legally speaking, drone flying is new ground. Laws are still being worked out. When the laws are written, privacy, trespassing, and public safety will count for more than the FAA's ownership of the air. Right now, we do not have a clear and consistent definition of what that is.

When people take the attitude that only the FAA can say where their drone can be flown, that just forces governments to legislate more control over the sky to local authorities. That's why in the US we are facing the Drone Federalism Act of 2017, Senate bill 1272. Education and working with people will accomplish more than "I will not kowtow to ignorant and macho law enforcement".

The state legislators in Commifornia can't wait for this bill to pass. There won't be any place to fly except for a few "designated" drone flight areas the size of a baseball field. This hobby is already very restrictive as to where you can fly without getting harassed in CA - even if those restrictions are more made up that fact of law.

 

[macoman]

The state legislators in Commifornia can't wait for this bill to pass. There won't be any place to fly except for a few "designated" drone flight areas the size of a baseball field. This hobby is already very restrictive as to where you can fly without getting harassed in CA - even if those restrictions are more made up that fact of law.

California I will imagine have remote places or mountains... Are they also forcing you not to fly there as well?