Can someone please elaborate on the fly over people restriction ?

[Rahul319]

FAA says do not intentionally fly over unprotected individuals / vehicles and remain 25 feet away from individuals and vulenerable property.

So does mean that I am not allowed to take dronie shots of myself or do dolly zoom shots ? Am I not allowed to launch the drone from a park where there are other people present ?

 

[AeroJ]

So does mean that I am not allowed to take dronie shots of myself or do dolly zoom shots ?

No, the rules do not apply to you personally - your machine can get as close to you, (or the people with you if you have given them a brief safety talk and made them 'people under your control') as you like. You just have to keep it away from people not under your control.

Am I not allowed to launch the drone from a park where there are other people present ?

You can launch from the park (provided the park doesn't have a no-drones rule) if you can keep a minimum distance away from the other people in it. If the park is so busy that you can't do that, then it is not safe to fly, but if it's just a few people, and you can keep a safe distance away from them that is OK.

 

[paul2]

I saw some person on YouTube well respected in the drone industry and FAA pilot fly over a beach to the ocean between people and his comment was I am not flying over people

 

[Congoblue]

Hmmm, surely the question to ask yourself is this: If my drone falls out of the sky, can I be confident it will not hit anyone? If no, do not fly there.

 

[Jackcutrone]

Hmmm, surely the question to ask yourself is this: If my drone falls out of the sky, can I be confident it will not hit anyone? If no, do not fly there.

+1

And that is not “do I think it is likely that my drone will fall out of the sky “ it is despite the odds that it won’t, if it does will I hit someone.

 

[HoozierDroneDaddy]

No, the rules do not apply to you personally - your machine can get as close to you, (or the people with you if you have given them a brief safety talk and made them 'people under your control') as you like. You just have to keep it away from people not under your control.


You can launch from the park (provided the park doesn't have a no-drones rule) if you can keep a minimum distance away from the other people in it. If the park is so busy that you can't do that, then it is not safe to fly, but if it's just a few people, and you can keep a safe distance away from them that is OK.

Partially true. They must be part of the op, this means UAV crew, safety, SAR team, etc. For example, you cannot consider the wedding party and guests part of the op, or consider them 'People under your control" for the sake of flying over them.

Also to clarify on vehicles. You can fly over parked vehicle, but not moving vehicles as it is considered a distraction and could cause them to have an accident.

 

[Congoblue]

Original post mentioned FAA so I presume he is in America. I thought the "people under your control" phrase came from the UK guidelines.

Not sure what the difference is between filming an SAR team and a wedding party. If you are doing it with their agreement and you've briefed them on what you are doing, then they are under your control. Still would take care about where I am flying either way.

 

[AeroJ]

Partially true. They must be part of the op, this means UAV crew, safety, SAR team, etc. For example, you cannot consider the wedding party and guests part of the op, or consider them 'People under your control" for the sake of flying over them.

I agree you can't consider the general public under your control, but if you were at a wedding party as in your example, and you had sat everyone down and given them a basic UAV safety talk, and got their permission to fly in proximity to them, then I'd say they ARE under your control. @Congoblue is right though - that's a UK thing.

 

[theDRONEranger]

Good answers each!

 

[dannybgoode]

Our drone regs are pretty relaxed in general in the UK. No flying over crowds but can fly over people, without warning them, at a minimum altitude of 50m or at an altitude of less than 50m but with a horizontal distance of min 50m.

Same with isolated buildings, roads etc.

 

[HoozierDroneDaddy]

I agree you can't consider the general public under your control, but if you were at a wedding party as in your example, and you had sat everyone down and given them a basic UAV safety talk, and got their permission to fly in proximity to them, then I'd say they ARE under your control. @Congoblue is right though - that's a UK thing.

I'm am refering to the US and under FAA rules. Even though the wedding party is part of and the reason for the op, they are not part of the UAV crew. Permission or not, you cannot fly directly over them, UNLESS you have a waiver from the FAA. A slight angle giving the appearance of being over them, but not being directly over them is fair game and still provides a great video.

If it is an indoor event, it is not controlled by the FAA. But flying in a room full of people is a high risk event IMHO.

Due to the seriousness of an accident should a UAV come down in a crowd, every precaution should be taken. Inspect ALL components, Pre-checks, use prop guards if possible, etc, etc. A UAV can come down in an angle or topple, so even if you are off to the side, it can still crash into the crowd.

And most important, if your going to fly over people, or in one of the above scenarios, HAVE GOOD INSURANCE!

 

[ruggb]

Partially true. They must be part of the op, this means UAV crew, safety, SAR team, etc. For example, you cannot consider the wedding party and guests part of the op, or consider them 'People under your control" for the sake of flying over them.

Also to clarify on vehicles. You can fly over parked vehicle, but not moving vehicles as it is considered a distraction and could cause them to have an accident.

How many accidents do you think have been cause by females or male hunks walking down the street? Maybe we need to have a law about that also.