Anyone ever get caught/fined for flying drone?

[solariscalls]

I've had my drone for about 5 months now and I barely fly the thing. I constantly follow up on drone laws in each country and I'm just so scared of getting in trouble with the law... i fly within my line of sight and never over people. I only fly in relatively secluded places with not much traffic but would like to fly in places that you see regular phantom / MAVIC owners fly at/film

Just wondering if anyone has ever gotten in trouble or whatever or if I'm just being too paranoid....

 

[BorisTheSpider]

It's not being caught you should worry about, it's flying in an unsafe manner.

You shouldn't feel worried about getting fined or prosecuted - just fly safely and responsibility in a way you feel you could justify if an accident happened.

Probably from your post it seems you could fly in places you currently don't - provided you know and follow the law, and always operate within your own capabilities, you should be just fine.

 

[solariscalls]

It's not being caught you should worry about, it's flying in an unsafe manner.

You shouldn't feel worried about getting fined or prosecuted - just fly safely and responsibility in a way you feel you could justify if an accident happened.

Probably from your post it seems you could fly in places you currently don't - provided you know and follow the law, and always operate within your own capabilities, you should be just fine.

Thanks for the response. I always fly in a safe manner and always make sure I have GPS mode on. I guess you can say I wanna fly over "cities" and buildings similar to how the majority of people fly. But laws always state that you can't fly over people and cities, but I see people do it all the time and just wish I could do that as well.

 

[BorisTheSpider]

It's natural to feel that way - there's nice footage to be had doing that, but please don't do it, it's really not safe and as you said generally illegal.

Quadcopters don't have any resilience to a failure of a motor, prop, battery, CPU etc, and are vulnerable to bird strike.

It's not just you and the small risk your flights might constitute, it's the aggregate effect when a lot of people emulate it raising the chances of an accident. I'm sure you'd rather that aircraft over you and your family were operated in a risk-averse, conservative manner so it's only courteous to fly in that way yourself. Hopefully in future we'll have consumer drones that can safely operate over cities, but we're not there yet.

Buildings - well, if they're not in built up areas, why not.

 

[FellDog]

I live near a number of small reservoirs within driving distance. I find it easy to find a place to launch and fly over the water. Most people are curious and very nice.

 

[dewster]

Just intercepts by errant security guards. Chose launch and recovery locations wisely. I avoid areas with a lot of people, especially when you have families pushing strollers or with children.

 

[Michael Ainsworth]

I want to video the sea, coast, rugged cliffs, bushland, cliffs, waterfalls. No interest in city buildings or people.
This keeps me naturally away from most problems.
My Drone is for me a way to enhance my "normal" photos. No interest in height, distance speed etc. Obviously some shots you need can be a bit more difficult to achieve without going that extra bit.
It comes down to your personal choice of why you have this Drone.
I suppose the problems mainly occur when people perceive that their personal space is being infringed.
I have had this discussion with friends who think that they can be spied on, show them the footage of little unidentifiable people they can't believe this.

 

[Daneby2]

The people who fly illegally and/or irresponsibly ARE being tracked down and prosecuted, most often after they post the "evidence" of this transgression, to their YouTube channel.

 

[jeplane]

Use the map on Recreational Users | Know Before You Fly

If you follow the FAA rules, there should never will be an issue....

 

[dmanisgnarly]

The people who fly illegally and/or irresponsibly ARE being tracked down and prosecuted, most often after they post the "evidence" of this transgression, to their YouTube channel.

Evidence to support said claims?

 

[DroningOn]

^^^^^

Evidence to support said claims?

Second that request

 

[JoelR]

Give this a look.

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[JoelR]

Here is an article that has a list of fines. It's about a year old so certainly not complete, but gives some evidence.

The FAA Gave Us a List of Every Drone Pilot Who Has Ever Been Fined

 

[rjanumpally]

Here is an article that has a list of fines. It's about a year old so certainly not complete, but gives some evidence.

The FAA Gave Us a List of Every Drone Pilot Who Has Ever Been Fined

5500 for crashing into white house is very minimal luckily no criminal charges

 

[Flycaster]

And the guy who flew in the airspace of the Airport in Israel........
There area few you can see on the web/Youtube........

 

[Mr. Salty]

But laws always state that you can't fly over people and cities

You can’t and shouldn’t fly over people, but laws don’t “always state” that you can’t fly over cities.

It would help to know what country you’re in so we can advise you what the laws are in your country.

 

[dewster]

Only one encounter with a security guard who thought he knew more about flight restrictions. I used RTH while arguing with him.

 

[dewster]

5500 for crashing into white house is very minimal luckily no criminal charges

That guy, a National Geospatial employee, caused all the crazy flight restrictions and draconian firmware updates that DJI implements to restrict flight. That story made the news and DJI panicked. I guess if you don’t regulate your own industry you open the door for the government to do so.