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DJI Authorization zone - FAA says I can fly 100 ft up

jkabaseball

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Hello,
DJI's FlySafe map says a location I would like to fly at is an authorization zone. It's in the landing take off path of planes, but pretty far away. ALOFT says I can request permissions and if granted, I can fly there with the LAANC system. I'm incline to believe ALOFT a little more the DJI. Now I know if I get LAANC permissions, I can fly my drone there, but I believe DJI will stop me from actually doing that won't it? I'm fine if I have to self unlock from my phone in order to fly, but I don't want to have to send a bunch of paper work to DJI in order to fly there or worse not be able to. Has anyone come across this before?
 
Hello,
DJI's FlySafe map says a location I would like to fly at is an authorization zone. It's in the landing take off path of planes, but pretty far away. ALOFT says I can request permissions and if granted, I can fly there with the LAANC system. I'm incline to believe ALOFT a little more the DJI. Now I know if I get LAANC permissions, I can fly my drone there, but I believe DJI will stop me from actually doing that won't it? I'm fine if I have to self unlock from my phone in order to fly, but I don't want to have to send a bunch of paper work to DJI in order to fly there or worse not be able to. Has anyone come across this before?
DJI is NOT an FAA authorization app. It has nothing to do with controlled airspace.

In order to fly where you want, use Aloft to get LAANC approval. If you need to unlock the drone to fly there, go to dji.com/flysafe and follow those directions once you have LAANC.
 
You need to be logged into your "DJI Account" as well to put in the "release code" you receive to fly - or your drone is simply a huge paperweight and won't fly in that area.

I never log out of my account just for that purpose, although I don't fly much in "restricted" airspace most of the time. I had to "unlock" and "confirm" when flying close to Jackson Hole Airport last year; but had zero issues unlocking the drone and flying safely in that area. On rare occasion DJI's GEOFENCE may kick in as well and "authorizing" is pretty quick and simple when logged in. Some pilots forget this among the dozen items on their checklist and if the drone doesn't take off or barely gets off the ground - they forget the need to unlock via their account.

If you know before you fly that the zone will require a code, get it in advance and do the unlock when at home on wi-fi / Internet and not out in the field.
 
It does get confusing when the maps from DJI, the FAA and one of the apps all have different information. In those cases, I just fly if the drone will let me. If not, jump through the hoops to get approval.
 
It does get confusing when the maps from DJI, the FAA and one of the apps all have different information. In those cases, I just fly if the drone will let me. If not, jump through the hoops to get approval.


IF THE DRONE WILL LET YOU does nothing to abide by the regulations of the FAA! If you are flying in an Authorization Zone or a TFR without the proper approvals you're busting the regs. Do NOT trust the DJI app to keep you out of trouble.
 
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IF THE DRONE WILL LET YOU does nothing to abide by the regulations of the FAA! If you are flying in an Authorization Zone or a TFR without the proper approvals you're busting the regs. Do NOT truth the DJI app to keep you out of trouble.
Yes, I know.
 
IF THE DRONE WILL LET YOU does nothing to abide by the regulations of the FAA! If you are flying in an Authorization Zone or a TFR without the proper approvals you're busting the regs. Do NOT truth the DJI app to keep you out of trouble.
Yes, I know.
ALWAYS check for a TFR before flying, at least on the day of your flight (and ideally right before) to be sure you're legal.

I know you know this but I just want to re-iterate for others, just because the app will let one fly does not mean it is legal (or safe) to do so.

Depending on how recently your device was connected you could easily miss a TFR.
VIP TFR's especially can spring up on short notice.

The FAA is not shy about doling out fines these days.
 
Of course this only applies if your not in some random location that dji has marked as NoFly even though it is a safe zone according to the FAA.
 
Of course this only applies if your not in some random location that dji has marked as NoFly even though it is a safe zone according to the FAA.
Well yes if you're not in a location where DJI OR the FAA say you're restricted then you're good to go.
 
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That's my point. dji has no right or authority to limit my flying if the FAA has approved it.
I see, I was confused because you said the opposite "...this only applies if your not in some random location that dji has marked as NoFly...".
I see you must have meant if you are in in a location where DJI says you can't fly but the FAA says you can.

But many of these situations involve getting a wiaver via LAANC or the Drone Zone in which DJI has no way of knowing you have a waiver without informing them.
OP's situation is a case study of this. FAA (via Aloft LAANC) says one can get permission to fly. If you get that then it's an easy unlock of DJI's restriction. This is not a bad thing.

And as far as safety goes I'd rather DJI err on the side of caution. We definitely don't need more bad press about some unaware pilot flying into airspace they shouldn't, or God forbid cause some incident.
I for one feel much safer knowing that some ignorant pilot can't just takeoff and fly by my local airport, exactly the kind of person we don't want doing that.
 
I see, I was confused because you said the opposite "...this only applies if your not in some random location that dji has marked as NoFly...".
I see you must have meant if you are in in a location where DJI says you can't fly but the FAA says you can.

But many of these situations involve getting a wiaver via LAANC or the Drone Zone in which DJI has no way of knowing you have a waiver without informing them.
OP's situation is a case study of this. FAA (via Aloft LAANC) says one can get permission to fly. If you get that then it's an easy unlock of DJI's restriction. This is not a bad thing.

And as far as safety goes I'd rather DJI err on the side of caution. We definitely don't need more bad press about some unaware pilot flying into airspace they shouldn't, or God forbid cause some incident.
I for one feel much safer knowing that some ignorant pilot can't just takeoff and fly by my local airport, exactly the kind of person we don't want doing that.
It"s not about you "feeling" safer knowing someone isn't flying around your airport, (the FAA has already banned that) and dji can/does inforce that.
What I said was the system would work IF dji respected the FAA and didn't arbitrarily create areas where the ONLY reson for No Fly is the app not allowing it.
 
It"s not about you "feeling" safer knowing someone isn't flying around your airport, (the FAA has already banned that) and dji can/does inforce that.
What I said was the system would work IF dji respected the FAA and didn't arbitrarily create areas where the ONLY reson for No Fly is the app not allowing it.
I don't think DJI does create arbitrary "No Fly" areas.
Checking DJIs "Geo Zone Map" the only restrictions I see match what the FAA has on their map (at least in the places I checked).

I have seen reports where DJI had TFRs still in the system after they were supposed to expire and I believe they have worked on that.
I understand they get their data from the FAA so I'm not sure what you're referring to.
 
I don't think DJI does create arbitrary "No Fly" areas.
Checking DJIs "Geo Zone Map" the only restrictions I see match what the FAA has on their map (at least in the places I checked).

I have seen reports where DJI had TFRs still in the system after they were supposed to expire and I believe they have worked on that.
I understand they get their data from the FAA so I'm not sure what you're referring to.
I'm replying to the various times when the app doesn't agree with the FAA and prevents you from flying. I'm glad that apparently it has never happened to you (consider yourself lucky). If you do a search on the dji forum you will see it is not that rare of an occurrence. Of course the last time it happened to me I was in the middle of nowhere which also meant I didn't have cell service so no way to contact dji.
 
I don't think DJI does create arbitrary "No Fly" areas.
Checking DJIs "Geo Zone Map" the only restrictions I see match what the FAA has on their map (at least in the places I checked).

I have seen reports where DJI had TFRs still in the system after they were supposed to expire and I believe they have worked on that.
I understand they get their data from the FAA so I'm not sure what you're referring to.


There have been a significant # of reports of the DJI GEO Fence NOT aligning with FAA areas. Not just because DJI uses a different polygon but actually restricting in areas that have no local restrictions from the FAA.

I've not had this problem but I've seen it well documented numerous times on this and other forums. Way too many for it to be a single event or Operator Error.
 
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It absolutely is the case where DJI is controlling airspace and authorizations that the FAA does not consider an issue. Here are two screenshots from the same area.
 

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I'm replying to the various times when the app doesn't agree with the FAA and prevents you from flying. I'm glad that apparently it has never happened to you (consider yourself lucky). If you do a search on the dji forum you will see it is not that rare of an occurrence. Of course the last time it happened to me I was in the middle of nowhere which also meant I didn't have cell service so no way to contact dji.
Good to know.

I only am familiar with the areas I fly and there DJI and the FAA appear to be in agreement.
It absolutely is the case where DJI is controlling airspace and authorizations that the FAA does not consider an issue. Here are two screenshots from the same area.
Kind of hard to tell in your pics as those are at way different zoom levels.

I looked it up though and see that apparently DJI has added a Class C airspace restriction restriction around Camp Peary airstrip even though (if I'm reading the charts right) according to the FAA that's Class E airspace and there are no restrictions for the "airport" itself other than the restrictions already there for the military base.

There are a few smaller airstrips around my area that don't come up restricted as this one does.

Are they as receptive to feedback on these errors as they come across on the DJI forum?

Also I wonder if there's some specific US Govt. DJI restriction, perhaps something to do with them being placed on the DOC "Entity List" or more recently the "Investment Blocklist"?
 
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Are they as receptive to feedback on these errors as they come across on the DJI forum?
I assume you're being facetious about the use of the word "receptive" If not, ask the unfortunate nano drone owners in India where their ridiculous 15 meter height ceiling was increased by their governing body to 120 meters almost 6 months ago, but dji refuses to remove the limit.
 
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Good to know.

I only am familiar with the areas I fly and there DJI and the FAA appear to be in agreement.

Kind of hard to tell in your pics as those are at way different zoom levels.

I looked it up though and see that apparently DJI has added a Class C airspace restriction restriction around Camp Peary airstrip even though (if I'm reading the charts right) according to the FAA that's Class E airspace and there are no restrictions for the "airport" itself other than the restrictions already there for the military base.

There are a few smaller airstrips around my area that don't come up restricted as this one does.

Are they as receptive to feedback on these errors as they come across on the DJI forum?

Also I wonder if there's some specific US Govt. DJI restriction, perhaps something to do with them being placed on the DOC "Entity List" or more recently the "Investment Blocklist"?
One is a screenshot of the DJI geo zones in the app...the other is a screenshot of the maps in the FAA gridmap site...
 
I assume you're being facetious about the use of the word "receptive" If not, ask the unfortunate nano drone owners in India where their ridiculous 15 meter height ceiling was increased by their governing body to 120 meters almost 6 months ago, but dji refuses to remove the limit.
And unfortunately even though there is a very interested and connected member of dji of a drone legal group, he probably wont be able to give you any clarification on that either.
 
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