Public Safety Drone Flight

Over on ReportDroneAccident.com, I just received a report on a DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced crash, and I had a chance to talk to the COA agency point of contact. The accident raises several issues for all pilots to consider to learn from the situation. Background A call came out on a sunny afternoon about people lost on a raft …

I’ve been very frustrated lately by the promotion of non-compliant flights of drones that result in a perceived “success” story. If the FAA wanted to seriously go after pilots engaged in flight outside the regulations, the DJI Rescue Map would be a great place to start. I’m going to use this latest rescue on that map as an example. I …

I loved this video showing a planning and tabletop exercise by Cal Fire aviation groups and how they walk through working together and how drones can impact their operations. Communication is always key to a safe operation. One day soon we will be able to have such professionalism between manned and unmanned aviation in public safety with all aerial assets. …

I was out flying the other day in the airplane and grabbed a couple of shots. I came across a GPS waypoint named DRONE. I made a not to fly to it one day just to say I’ve been there. This is how you can legally fly over a prison. This happens to be the federal prison Butner where Bernie …

A December 2, 2020 accident in the UK neatly ties up many of the concerns I’ve been writing about over the past couple of years. I wish the US had a similar detailed accident examination process but the UK leads in this effort with the Air Accidents Investigation Branch. A DJI Phantom 4 RTK was being operated by a pilot …

The purpose of this article is to highlight the actual limits of flying small unmanned aerial vehicles (sUAVs), specifically multi-rotors, under the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Visual Line of Sight (VLOS) regulations. This time-consuming research began with a simple question: how far you can see and fly while still meeting the regulations under 14 CFR § 107.31 that defines legal …

I was trying to wrap my head around presenting all the facts about how to get a waiver for flight over people but a hat tip is due to attorney Jon Rupprecht for his definitive work Ultimate Guide to Over People Waivers & Section 107.39. Honestly, he does a great job of accurately dealing with all the nuances and realities …

Another Day as a Public Safety Pilot With Unlimited Challenges Yesterday I was flying the airplane as Fire Demon 1. It finally made it out of its required annual inspection by an FAA-certificated mechanic. Being back in the airplane is a beautiful feeling. The joy of watching the ground pass below and seeing the world from a new perspective feeds …

The final rules requiring remote identification of drones and allowing some flights over people, over moving vehicles and at night under certain conditions will go into effect on April 21, 2021. Remote identification (Remote ID) requires identification of drones in flight as well as the location of their control stations or takeoff point. It provides crucial information to our national …

I’m currently working on a project to help measure what the real visual line of sight distance is for both day and night operations to remain within the envelope for CFR 107.31 and the LAASDON limits. I can really use all the field test results I can get. Your participation helps all public safety pilots. The test should take about …