Bournemouth police pocket seven drones in banned airshow space!

[Nickyb65]

Hi

I saw the following article on DroneDJ today..

Bournemouth police pocket seven drones in banned airshow space

Dorset police tweet their success confiscating seven drones in banned airspace during Bournemouth's annual airshow.

dronedj.com

Sure, its a stupid thing to do, flying in restricted airspace and gives us responsibly drone pilots a bad name.

Being new to his incredible hobby, I have a Mini 3 Pro, that the Drone would refuse to take off in a restrictive airspace in the first place.

Any ideas?

thanks

 

[Cymru]

Yep - this is why we cant have nice things.

Being new to his incredible hobby, I have a Mini 3 Pro, that the Drone would refuse to take off in a restrictive airspace in the first place.

That's the problem and something every owner needs to be aware of - it WILL allow takeoff.
DJIs Geo system is extremely basic and for the most part doesnt show temporary restrictions or even some permanent ones. It will often let you take off and fly illegally.

You need to check yourself whether its safe to fly using the official Drone Assist app or equivalent online altitude angel data (Drone Safety Map | Altitude Angel) or Where To Fly Your Drone in the UK

Those display the actual legal no fly zones.

Relying on DJI Geo will mean you stand the chance of flying in a restricted zone without ever realising.

That aside, it takes a special kind of stupid to fly a drone at an airshow. Especially with literally 100s of "NO DRONE" signs around the crowdline. Its a deliberate action to fly not an accident.

Nobody should *ever* rely on DJI Geo alone to determine if a flight is legal from an airspace perspective.

 

[Nickyb65]

Yep - this is why we cant have nice things.



That's the problem and something every owner needs to be aware of - it WILL allow takeoff.
DJIs Geo system is extremely basic and for the most part doesnt show temporary restrictions or even some permanent ones. It will often let you take off and fly illegally.

You need to check yourself whether its safe to fly using the official Drone Assist app or equivalent online altitude angel data (Drone Safety Map | Altitude Angel) or Where To Fly Your Drone in the UK

Those display the actual legal no fly zones.

Relying on DJI Geo will mean you stand the chance of flying in a restricted zone without ever realising.

That aside, it takes a special kind of stupid to fly a drone at an airshow. Especially with literally 100s of "NO DRONE" signs around the crowdline. Its a deliberate action to fly not an accident.

Nobody should *ever* rely on DJI Geo alone to determine if a flight is legal from an airspace perspective.

Thanks for the sound advice.

 

[123taff]

The fact that it was reported that SEVEN drones were "nicked" is particularly worrying. If it were one or two then that is one thing, but that many drone flyers being STUPID and flying near an air show is as Cymru says, a "special kind of stupid."
What worries me is that as the commercial side of drone flight progresses, I can see more and more limitations to the recreational flyers like us. I feel we are on borrowed time, and idiots like these are not helping!
Who knows, we might one day become as unpopular as cyclists!

 

[Cymru]

The fact that it was reported that SEVEN drones were "nicked" is particularly worrying. If it were one or two then that is one thing, but that many drone flyers being STUPID and flying near an air show is as Cymru says, a "special kind of stupid."
What worries me is that as the commercial side of drone flight progresses, I can see more and more limitations to the recreational flyers like us. I feel we are on borrowed time, and idiots like these are not helping!
Who knows, we might one day become as unpopular as cyclists!

I can see mandatory detect-and-avoid along with remote ID coming in for everyone once commercial rollout hits off.
This isn't a first - the police confiscated several at the Swansea airshow a few years back Same thing, airshow with 200,000 people, well publicised, no drone signs everywhere. Its a deliberate action to fly not an accident and needs to be punished as such.

Im thinking more and more the only way to stop more legislation is to make examples of the intentional violators and use severe action as a deterrent. Self-policing in the community doesn't work - its failed.

One other point though, i wish the CAA drone website was more vocal in saying not to rely on manufacturers geofencing and to use official data sources. It mentions them in passing but not forcefully. Quite a lot of people are flying in illegal areas without realising because DJI says its ok. Education needs to be improved there starting with the official drone rules and exam site.

 

[twickers14]

What an idiot. Not sure he was a local from his accent but whatever. The Law is the Law quite apart from the safety of others watching the air show. It is a spectacular event and safety is paramount for spectators and aviators (officially in the show) alike.

 

[Cymru]

To highlight the issue this happened last week:-

Red Arrows Display Cut Short After Bird Strike

The bird strike resulted in a canopy broken and emergency landing. The Red Arrows were performing at Rhyl Air Show in the afternoon on Aug. 28, 2022, when

theaviationist.com

Struck by a bird of similar size and mass to a Mavic mid display. Canopy destroyed, helmet damaged, debris sucked into the engine amongst other things.



(Credit: Paul Rowbotham/SWNS )



Source: BBC News)


Yes, a drone can do this.

 

[old man mavic]

unfortunately,no amount of legislation,will prevent those individuals,who either ignore ,or think the rules dont apply to them,from committing such stupid acts, at the very least ,they should have their equipment confiscated, and given a commensurate fine for their stupidity,in endangering not only the aircraft at the air show ,and their pilots ,but also the innocent bystanders ,who came to see the display

 

[Lister]

Immediate confiscation of the aircraft and controller and a HUGE fine, followed by lots of publicity for the police action and the punishments. That's the only thing that will save us from these idiots.

 

[Robert Prior]

i wish the CAA drone website was more vocal

It apparently can't even convey to pilots that you can't fly over people with a heavier legacy drone, despite stating that clearly.

A good chunk of the problem is that people will ignore inconvenient rules, hang onto outdated guidelines, etc — anything that gives them a veneer of plausibility to say 'I thought it was OK'. Talk to anyone in a public-facing job for many examples.

 

[Cymru]

It apparently can't even convey to pilots that you can't fly over people with a heavier legacy drone, despite stating that clearly.

A good chunk of the problem is that people will ignore inconvenient rules, hang onto outdated guidelines, etc — anything that gives them a veneer of plausibility to say 'I thought it was OK'. Talk to anyone in a public-facing job for many examples.

Another thread with a user on here in blind denial of a >250g drone today shows that nicely...

The website needed a complete rewrite once the EASA rules came in but it didnt happen so its a confusing mix of old and new with no nuance or clarity. There are places where it directly contradicts itself or the CAP.

I'd like to see a "My drone is XXXXX" pull down box that generates a page with the exact regulations for that model.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

unfortunately,no amount of legislation,will prevent those individuals,who either ignore ,or think the rules dont apply to them,from committing such stupid acts, at the very least ,they should have their equipment confiscated, and given a commensurate fine for their stupidity,in endangering not only the aircraft at the air show ,and their pilots ,but also the innocent bystanders ,who came to see the display

Exactly, laws don't stop the blatant law breakers, or the ignorant.

So, what does govco do ?
Introduce even more rules that they won't follow / know about, but that punish the rest of the folk that do the right thing.

It's a viscous cycle of ever increasing legislation that really doesn't solve anything, and makes law abiding peoples lives more difficult.

Hitting offenders in the hip pocket (even curtail their freedom in extreme or repeat cases), is the only thing that might fix this longer term, and certainly get it into the mainstream media so people hear about it, not just drone news websites most don't get to see.

 

[Cymruflyer]

....Who knows, we might one day become as unpopular as cyclists!

Uuuhhhhhh (sharp intake of breath), Nooooooooo! Please... not that bad.

 

[123taff]

Uuuhhhhhh (sharp intake of breath), Nooooooooo! Please... not that bad.

When you think logically about it, the majority of cyclists probably abide by the law and yet there are those petrol heads who would have ALL cyclists banned from the roads on the basis of a minority of lawbreakers.
Gawd forbid, it might get the same for us hobbyist drone flyers, and there is even less of an understanding among the general public of what our hobby is all abut!.

 

[Robert Prior]

Another thread with a user on here in blind denial of a >250g drone today shows that nicely...

That was my point.

I'd like to see a "My drone is XXXXX" pull down box that generates a page with the exact regulations for that model.

That would be useful.

 

[Robert Prior]

When you think logically about it, the majority of cyclists probably abide by the law and yet there are those petrol heads who would have ALL cyclists banned from the roads on the basis of a minority of lawbreakers.

Which is especially ironic given that cyclists were a major driving force for improved roads that motorists then used…

Interesting look at history here:

Roads Were Not Built For Cars

Cyclists were 1st to push for good roads & were pioneers of motoring

roadswerenotbuiltforcars.com

(Excellent book, very interesting especially how the 'standard history' ignores the role cycling played.)

 

[Cymruflyer]

When you think logically about it, the majority of cyclists probably abide by the law and yet there are those petrol heads who would have ALL cyclists banned from the roads on the basis of a minority of lawbreakers.
Gawd forbid, it might get the same for us hobbyist drone flyers, and there is even less of an understanding among the general public of what our hobby is all abut!.

It was a joke.. I'm a cyclist as well, in fact our whole family ride bikes often.

 

[123taff]

My initial comment was also sarcastic humour, and I too cycle regularly to maintain fitness. I also still get paid to ride a motorcycle (motorcycle medic) and obviously drive too !

 

[Gagey52]

No amount of legislation will stop Idiots. All it will do is impact those who do the right thing.
Regards

 

[123taff]

No amount of legislation will stop Idiots. All it will do is impact those who do the right thing.
Regards

That won't stop them introducing legislation though!