Can't fly in private university?

[JC_Wang]

Yesterday morning I stood up on the rooftop of parking building inside the one campus of private university in the northern Illinois state. I kept alert nobody was underneath my drone flying path. Around 80 minutes later, two school police officers (one is the supervisor) approached me and told me I couldn't fly there when I went back into my car and was ready to leave.

I response there is neither no fly zone nor restricted zone on the AirMap.com. One officer said "Didn't you see the flight passage over the sky" (I ever saw some commercial airplanes fly over), and I said I followed the FAA regulation to keep the height under 120 meters. After that, they told me "Here is the private university, you can't fly your drone without school permission".

I really thought the school campus is a public place that everybody can go in. So I talked to them I am so sorry I did not know that. I handed in my driver license after being requested my ID. They talked to someone else over the radio. I heard my name was being said from the other party from the radio. In the final, they returned my ID and let me go without doing anything.

Just curious some things: People can't fly drones in private university (college)? How about public university (college)? Could they call local police department to arrest me? Whom is the person they talked to while checking my ID?

 

[BigAl07]

Of course a University/College has the right to restrict you from flying FROM their property just like they can restrict you from climbing buildings, driving on sidewalks etc. Public or Private they can restrict what you do ON their property.

They can call their "Campus Police" and they would then call the local Law Enforcement but that's usually only for rude interactions or repeat offenders. You're now "on the radar" so you won't get away with " I didn't know" any more.

 

[anotherlab]

....Just curious some things: People can't fly drones in private university (college)? How about public university (college)? Could they call local police department to arrest me? Whom is the person they talked to while checking my ID?

It doesn't matter if it's a public or private institution. It's their property, their rules.

If you really want access to their open grounds, you could come to some sort of arrangement with them. Contact someone at the college and ask if they have a drone club. If they do, offer to be a mentor for new pilots. The odds are they don't have one and offer to help them start one. When you are outside, it's a good socially distant activity. Colleges and Universities are looking for activities that are safer for the students on campus.

 

[JC_Wang]

Of course a University/College has the right to restrict you from flying FROM their property just like they can restrict you from climbing buildings, driving on sidewalks etc. Public or Private they can restrict what you do ON their property.

They can call their "Campus Police" and they would then call the local Law Enforcement but that's usually only for rude interactions or repeat offenders. You're now "on the radar" so you won't get away with " I didn't know" any more.

By the way, those campus police officers told me "You can shoot photos or video clips anywhere on the ground here, but you just can't fly your drone."

 

[BigAl07]

By the way, those campus police officers told me "You can shoot photos or video clips anywhere on the ground here, but you just can't fly your drone."

Their property (own or manage) their rules.

Society as a whole is Drone Paranoid and it's probably not going to get any better.

 

[jaysmithtechtv]

Their property (own or manage) their rules.

Society as a whole is Drone Paranoid and it's probably not going to get any better.

In another thread somewhere I heard that the FAA controls the air-space over everyone's property and no one else can control it. The guy in that thread was saying that he flew over a neighbour's property and they called the police. It turned out that the FAA controls all airspace and property owners have no jurisdiction over it. Is that true, or am I misunderstanding something?

 

[zeusfl]

In another thread somewhere I heard that the FAA controls the air-space over everyone's property and no one else can control it. The guy in that thread was saying that he flew over a neighbour's property and they called the police. It turned out that the FAA controls all airspace and property owners have no jurisdiction over it. Is that true, or am I misunderstanding something?

Every state, city are different. For example in FL you can not fly drones at all in National Parks, Jails, Hospitals, Schools. That's a no no. Some city have ordinance and you do not want to go there unless you have $$$ to pay attorneys fee. They pay their attorneys with tax payers money, you pay your attorney with your money. Does not worth it.

 

[BigAl07]

In another thread somewhere I heard that the FAA controls the air-space over everyone's property and no one else can control it. The guy in that thread was saying that he flew over a neighbour's property and they called the police. It turned out that the FAA controls all airspace and property owners have no jurisdiction over it. Is that true, or am I misunderstanding something?

FAA controls the AIR (no one else)
Land Owner/Manager controls what you do while you're on their property. They can't tell you you can't fly OVER their property (for instance if you were standing on adjacent property NOT under their control) but they can say you can't fly FROM their property.

Also flying from adjacent property after you've been told to leave/no flying if something happens and your aircraft lands on their property you're now trespassing.

The catch is if you fly from adjacent property you could be violating Privacy issues, Reckless Behavior issues, and Line of Sight regulations.

It's usually better to find a more Drone Friendly place to fly around.

 

[JC_Wang]

In another thread somewhere I heard that the FAA controls the air-space over everyone's property and no one else can control it. The guy in that thread was saying that he flew over a neighbour's property and they called the police. It turned out that the FAA controls all airspace and property owners have no jurisdiction over it. Is that true, or am I misunderstanding something?

Yes, it it true. The guy's neighbor is a police officer who has the power to do something as well as you can call 911 and say "My neighbor use her/his drone to sneak my backyard. please come to arrest her/him."

 

[zeusfl]

Is funny. Sometimes is just use physiological tricks. My neighbored next to my apartment came outside because he saw the drone few months ago. I call him to show him what i was doing. I even let him fly after a 20 minutes free lesson for him and done deal. he never complain again. I fly daily without problems here.

Now every time he see me says one day i will buy my own drone.

 

[BigAl07]

Yes, it it true. The guy's neighbor is a police officer who has the power to do something as well as you can call 911 and say "My neighbor use her/his drone to sneak my backyard. please come to arrest her/him."

Fortunately you can call and "request" that all day long but that's not the same as them actually arresting you.

 

[Bxr532001]

What if you flew over the school from an off campus location. As long as you fly above the highest point on the campus, you are in airspace controlled by the FAA, not the school. Since you’re on the radar, it’s probably a good idea to fly elsewhere.

 

[theDRONEranger]

In another thread somewhere I heard that the FAA controls the air-space over everyone's property and no one else can control it. The guy in that thread was saying that he flew over a neighbour's property and they called the police. It turned out that the FAA controls all airspace and property owners have no jurisdiction over it. Is that true, or am I misunderstanding something?

Hopefully VLOS and over people were NOT an issue.

 

[anotherlab]

What if you flew over the school from an off campus location. As long as you fly above the highest point on the campus, you are in airspace controlled by the FAA, not the school. Since you’re on the radar, it’s probably a good idea to fly elsewhere.

The VLOS and flying over people have already mentioned, I just wanted to that flying over the highest point on the campus may not leave you much room. The Quad dorms at the Unversity at Albany are 286 feet in height. And if you have a campus on a hill, you can hit the height restrictions without having high-rise dorms.

 

[JC_Wang]

What if you flew over the school from an off campus location. As long as you fly above the highest point on the campus, you are in airspace controlled by the FAA, not the school. Since you’re on the radar, it’s probably a good idea to fly elsewhere.

Thank you so much for the clarification. My drone was taking off and landing on the top level of parking garage should be in their campus (I think so). So I thought I was inside the campus location. Well, I am on their radar as you mentioned, I will not go there again.

 

[Luvs2Fly]

Thank you so much for the clarification. My drone was taking off and landing on the top level of parking garage should be in their campus (I think so). So I thought I was inside the campus location. Well, I am on their radar as you mentioned, I will not go there again.

How did you get in the roof in the first place? That should be off limits even to students...

 

[anotherlab]

How did you get in the roof in the first place? That should be off limits even to students...

The top level for many parking garages is not covered by a roof.

 

[Luvs2Fly]

Understood... So you were able to park on top of the parking garage and flew the drone there. Yeah that would bring the school security so best not to do that. Unless you have business with the school such as filming building construction activities etc. then you can just get their permission to fly over specific areas of the campus. Hope this helps