Cessna almost hit my drone yesterday

[jeplane]

It might be difficult for the pilot to explain at an NTSB hearing why he was flying below 500’ AGL, but he could argue that he was far enough from
any persons, structures, vessels, vehicles.
Of course, if the engine fails, he would also have to explain his emergency landing without undue hazard to persons or property.

Bottom line: planes CAN fly lower than 500’ AGL, legally or not, and become a threat to UAS pilot.

We are the lowest on the Totem pole, and therefore give priority to all.

 

[Deleted member 93449]

I think the point is the Cessna was legally allowed to be where he was. While I understand the OP's concern calling 911 (they have nothing to do with this type of situation unless there was an actual crash) was unnecessary. Even IF they contacted local FAA and the FAA could track down the pilot what are they going to tell him? They could say watch out for low flying drones and that would increase his chances of spotting a drone by 0.0001% maybe.

Also, 14 CFR § 91.119 - Minimum safe altitudes: General states...

"(c) Over other than congested areas. An altitude of 500 feet above the surface, EXCEPT over open water or sparsely populated areas. In those cases, the aircraft may not be operated closer than 500 feet to any person , vessel, vehicle, or structure."

 

[Gindra]

One thing I have found to be helpful is a free app called Flightradar24 - it shows all aircraft in the area and you can see the direction they are moving.

Yep. I use this app a lot. Helps with situational awareness. I HATE surprises!

 

[sar104]

So back to the OP, it is entirely possible that the plane would not show up on such website.

Agreed - it is possible for it not to show up - but that's not what we were discussing. Your original statement was that it would not show up unless IFR or using VFR flight following, not that it might not show up for other reasons. My point was that it would show up if broadcasting and within range of a receiver - it doesn' t need to be an IFR flight or using any ATC services.

 

[Mossiback]

All this back-and-forth discussion about whether a flight will show up on an app or whether a pilot is breaking flight rules is rather pointless as it applies to us flying a drone. Since an aircraft can suddenly appear very close to the ground from any direction, we must maintain situational awareness of the airspace we are flying in to take evasive action when necessary.

 

[hiflyer201]

Why does the FAA insist on line of sight? are you shocked when you see another car on the freeway?

 

[jeplane]

Agreed - it is possible for it not to show up - but that's not what we were discussing. Your original statement was that it would not show up unless IFR or using VFR flight following, not that it might not show up for other reasons. My point was that it would show up if broadcasting and within range of a receiver - it doesn' t need to be an IFR flight or using any ATC services.

Aren’t we back to square one?

Although you are correct that flights should show up, they don’t, even with cell towers coverage. Unless with ATC contact. Those do show up with no exceptions.

Sigh. Are we done yet?

 

[Maviac]

C-130s fly near treelines sometimes where i live for extreme low-altitude training, nearly inches from the top of the tree.

This reminds me of the old joke about the guy who was trying to impress a girl by telling her he was a pilot. “What do you fly?” she asked. “A C-150,” he replied, referring to the shorthand name of the Cessna 150 trainer. She asked “Oh, how big is that one?” “Well, you see that one over there? That’s a C-130,” he answered.

As far as your comment, yeah, C-130s tend to come out of nowhere, and be low. I was flying a C-172 once, middle of nowhere (150 miles at least from the nearest base) when I looked out to my right and saw 3 of them headed straight for me, thankfully a ways out and a little lower, but it was a reminder to keep an eye out (and use flight following when VFR).

 

[dronerdave]

Why does the FAA insist on line of sight? are you shocked when you see another car on the freeway?

Not the VLOS argument again. As stated in this thread over and over... currently unmanned aircraft have to make way for manned aircraft. It's as simple as that. It's up to the UAV operator to see and avoid full sized aircraft. RC pilots have done this for years and well before drones were invented.

I like to capture ag shots especially during the bloom but I have enough common sense to understand there can be low flying aircraft such as crop dusters doing their job where I'm flying. I must maintain visual line of sight to be able to make way. This thread is going in circles.

 

[sar104]

Aren’t we back to square one?

Although you are correct that flights should show up, they don’t, even with cell towers coverage. Unless with ATC contact. Those do show up with no exceptions.

Sigh. Are we done yet?

Well no, we are not done - not if you are trying to change the argument again. The discussion was also not about whether flights always show up with ATC contact - it was about whether flights can show up without ATC contact. You asserted that such flights never show up. They should show up (if broadcasting and within range of a receiver on the Flightaware network) and, in my experience do show up.

What do cell towers have to do with the question?

 

[jeplane]

Well no, we are not done - not if you are trying to change the argument again. The discussion was also not about whether flights always show up with ATC contact - it was about whether flights can show up without ATC contact. You asserted that such flights never show up. They should show up (if broadcasting and within range of a receiver on the Flightaware network) and, in my experience do show up.

What do cell towers have to do with the question?

 

[jeplane]

[Flights with or without ATC contact will show up on ATC radar screen, with more infos than ever before with ADSB.

They will not ALL be reported on a tracking website however. Yes, even when in range of a station.
You and I have a different experience on this.

Are we done yet?

As for the cell towers, disregard. I meant ground stations. I see cell towers coverage when I get FIS-B) information, but this has nothing to do with tracking website.

 

[sar104]

[Flights with or without ATC contact will show up on ATC radar screen, with more infos than ever before with ADSB.

They will not ALL be reported on a tracking website however. Yes, even when in range of a station.
You and I have a different experience on this.

Are we done yet?

Since you have now retracted your original statement – "In order to do so, said aircraft would have to fly IFR, or receive VFR flight following." – that I disputed, I guess we are done.

This was a useful discussion, but please stop with the faux impatience which is neither helpful nor convincing – it was you that made the incorrect assertion and then repeatedly tried to obfuscate the issue when it was pointed out.

It would be interesting to try to figure out why your flights don't seem to have been tracked, though I'm guessing that's not really something that you have much interest in pursuing. If you have a logging ADS-B receiver station then it should be fairly straightforward to compare its reception to the Flightaware history to get some definitive data. It looks like they should have excellent coverage in the DFW area:

 

[jeplane]

Since you have now retracted your original statement – "In order to do so, said aircraft would have to fly IFR, or receive VFR flight following." – that I disputed, I guess we are done.

This was a useful discussion, but please stop with the faux impatience which is neither helpful nor convincing – it was you that made the incorrect assertion and then repeatedly tried to obfuscate the issue when it was pointed out.

It would be interesting to try to figure out why your flights don't seem to have been tracked, though I'm guessing that's not really something that you have much interest in pursuing. If you have a logging ADS-B receiver station then it should be fairly straightforward to compare its reception to the Flightaware history to get some definitive data. It looks like they should have excellent coverage in the DFW area:

View attachment 85433

I have retracted nothing.
Again, to show on a tracking website, you would have to fly IFR, or be in flight following. Once again, it appears that tracking websites don’t bother tracking all flights.
You are right, I don’t know, nor care why they do it this way. I am just pointing it out.
And yes, DFW does have good coverage, as already mentioned.

So are we done yet? Need a hug?

 

[sar104]

I have retracted nothing.
Again, to show on a tracking website, you would have to fly IFR, or be in flight following. Once again, it appears that tracking websites don’t bother tracking all flights.
You are right, I don’t know, nor care why they do it this way. I am just pointing it out.
And yes, DFW does have good coverage, as already mentioned.

Alright - so you are back to your original, incorrect assertion. You are wrong, but clearly that's totally irrelevant to you.

So are we done yet? Need a hug?

Really - is that all you have left - stupid comments? That's quite pathetic.

 

[Thomas B]

Guess it’s said and down to a discussion that can be done another way.