Australian drone pilot fined AUD$7750 for flying illegally
An Australian drone pilot was fined AUD$7750 earlier this month in the Wollongong Magistrates Court in response to unsafe drone flights. The man was spot...
dronedj.com
Australian drone pilot fined AUD$7750 for flying illegally
An Australian drone pilot was fined AUD$7750 earlier this month in the Wollongong Magistrates Court in response to unsafe drone flights. The man was spot...dronedj.com
The headline is a bit misleading. The fine was only $1,050, but the idiot refused to pay, and so the court slapped him silly with three extra charges and court costs.Australian drone pilot fined AUD$7750 for flying illegally
An Australian drone pilot was fined AUD$7750 earlier this month in the Wollongong Magistrates Court in response to unsafe drone flights. The man was spot...dronedj.com
Push and major pushback! Easier to fly legally.
For example, what would be the outcome if a drone operator began a flight in an area with nobody around, was flying for 20 minutes and then was bringing their drone back to land and a person who was against the hobby approached him... His drone is nearly out of battery and there are no other viable landing locations in the immediate area, the person is now standing beside him, what can the drone operator do to avoid flying within 30m of this person?
I haven't ever found this on CASA site, or the FAA, but it's commonly seen around this forum that you should place yourself between the drone landing and the person, and request they stay there until landed.
That is, if an initial reasonable / polite request to move back for a moment "while I land please ?" is ignored by them, which would be strange behaviour.
The operator is in a sticky spot if it is a difficult person, but if argued about attempts to get compliance were put forward it should not be something punishable.
Of course if might be some vindictive person and their word against yours, so let's hope that doesn't happen to responsible UAV operators.
It would be rare.
Why I like remote places, even if that is early morning in semi urban places.
Bizarrely, wearing a high vis vest nearly always seems to keep people away. One that says “Please keep clear” on the back is even more effective.That strategy would definitely be the best option in this circumstance I would imagine, there really isn't much else you can do but try to be as polite as possible and request they give you space.
I think scenarios like this that fall into a "grey" area of the 30m rule and do need to be further addressed by CASA though, to help drone operators operate safely and to give them some degree of "lee-way" in regards to breaking the law, because there are some conceivable circumstances in a public space where it would not be possible to land the drone safely without breaching the 30m radius of another person.
Thankfully these scenarios should be extremely rare, but as I'm sure you know there are always some people out there who make it their business to be difficult and if they know the law specifies that a 30m radius must be maintained they could make it impossible for you just to try and get you in trouble.
This has happened. I saw a YouTube video where a guy in the States was approached and accosted by an irate lady. She called the cops. He kept the drone videoing the encounter, had turned props off. She, I believe, was fined for assault.I haven't ever found this on CASA site, or the FAA, but it's commonly seen around this forum that you should place yourself between the drone landing and the person, and request they stay there until landed.
That is, if an initial reasonable / polite request to move back for a moment "while I land please ?" is ignored by them, which would be strange behaviour.
The operator is in a sticky spot if it is a difficult person, but if argued about attempts to get compliance were put forward it should not be something punishable.
Of course it might be some vindictive person and their word against yours, so let's hope that doesn't happen to responsible UAV operators.
It would be rare.
Why I like remote places, even if that is early morning in semi urban places.
This has happened. I saw a YouTube video where a guy in the States was approached and accosted by an irate lady. She called the cops. He kept the drone videoing the encounter, had turned props off. She, I believe, was fined for assault.
This was widely reported in mainstream Australian media. I've seen/heard it reported over a couple of weeks at the time.I'd like to see this hit the mainstream Australian media.
Most people (hobbyists) flying way outside the rules like that (multiple indiscretions, times and deliberately) just don't hang around forum like this to be educated, or read drone website news, or look at CASA info online.
Once this starts to happen a bit more and gets in the main news sources, people might start to think twice about blatant ignorance of air safety rules.
This is why we need rules, but will it get to the right people ?
How will CASA educate the masses so they know about changes upcoming ?
Mainstream media is the only way to have a chance at this.
I've heard that 73.6% of statistics are made up on the spot! ;PI think this is a good thing, especially as CASA will shortly require all Australian drones to be registered and they start to toughen laws, and hopefully their enforcement. 99.99% of people who invest in a drone want to be 100% responsible with their flying and observance of the rules. For the other 0.01% who think it is funny, or their God-given right to flaunt the law and fly illegally or unsafely, then 'bring it on', charge the bast***s! These people are the ones responsible for discrediting all of us who are trying to do the right thing and have some safe, responsible drone flying and photography. I have NO sympathy for this person in Woolongong. Do the 'crime', do the 'time'!
This was widely reported in mainstream Australian media. I've seen/heard it reported over a couple of weeks at the time.