FAA FINES PHILADELPHIA DRONE PILOT

[Slade]

Wow! Amazing footage & commentary, but is he really off the heroin these days? Now one can understand why drones are so useful for inspection of high-rise buildings! But as you say, so many infractions of regulations one hardly knows where to start, but you had a darned good stab at it! Had he tried this caper, say in London UK, never mind warning letters, I could imagine a British "Bobby" turning up to "feel his collar" with the words "'Ello, 'ello sir, wot's all this then? You're nicked!", before throwing him the back of a "Black Maria" paddy wagon for transportation to the Tower of London!

Mikey has been warned numerous times by other drone enthusiasts that he was being reckless. I can’t mention on this forum the vulgarities he threw at all detractors but suffice it to say he’s getting his comeuppance. It’s irresponsible fliers like Mikey that threaten this hobby for the rest of us. Anyone that supports him is also part of the problem.

 

[Slade]

I disagree, coming down hard on stuff like this is a complete overreach. I haven't watched any of his stuff but that amount of money for this even stacked upon is a failure of the way they police this.

Stupid Hurts.

 

[Slade]

You are correct Mikey said he just didn’t know about the laanc system, If he would’ve registered each flight it might’ve been a little easier on him

Malarkey. I asked Mikey about using LAANC over one year ago and he just blew it off. He has deliberately violated the regulations and now he’s getting what he deserves. Never feel sorry for a fool.

 

[Classic flyer]

I disagree, coming down hard on stuff like this is a complete overreach. I haven't watched any of his stuff but that amount of money for this even stacked upon is a failure of the way they police this.

with a heavy fine, it's sends a very clear message to the rest of us about SAFETY OF FLIGHT RULES AND REGULATIONS...it's not as if he wasn't notified that his reckless behavior would eventually get him in BIG TROUBLE with the AUTHORITIES...he chose to egnor them and the rest is history and a lesson for the rest of us... be SMART FLY SAFE

 

[Matt M PA]

After seeing a headline about this, I went on-line and saw a video or two...and also looked at some of his videos.

I'd assume he's flying too close to Phila. Intl. Airport...and well out of line of sight...among other things. I think what strikes me the most (as written above) he's received over one hundred letters from the FAA. Seems that each one has a fine in the area of $1500. Perhaps I'm just "wired differently", but I would have taken the first one seriously. He just continues over and over...

I suppose in my thinking, it's a similar thought to the tv program my wife watches, "My 600lb Life". I feel terrible for the people in those conditions, and do not intend this in a mean spirited manner....but at what point does one realize there's an issue? 300lbs? 400lbs? 500lbs?

At what point did Mikey come to the the realization that there's more to what he is doing that some letters from the FAA? Maybe he hasn't yet.

 

[Outback Joe]

Good!

Why is this "good"? Interested in hearing the logic behind your statement.

 

[karlblessing]

... Best for everyone to get there 107 so they can fly without issue.

Having a 107 certification doesn't give a free pass on breaking rules, still have to request for waivers to exceed the limitations which are not likely to be approved depending.

If anything it would make it worse... If you passed testing to get a 107 and you still break the rules... You clearly knew better.

 

[Slade]

You are correct Mikey said he just didn’t know about the laanc system, If he would’ve registered each flight it might’ve been a little easier on him

That’s not true. I asked Mikey about flying at night and how he received LAANC approval and he just dismissed it as not necessary. He knew exactly what he was doing.

 

[Tashmoo]

He's not a bad guy, seems to have good intentions (as opposed to bad ones). Doesn't seem stupid,rattles off some rules and regs, yet doesn't think he could pass a 107 test. Acts like the victim. Discredits the FAA and acts like a drone pilot should be able to do anything he wants on the premise that there are just too many rules. His fine is totally unreasonable. Because of that, it's a headline and a media warning to all rule breakers. I'm sure we'll all be following this story.

 

[Repaid1]

I guess the "funny" part if there is one, is the FAA only cites and fines him on his live streaming videos. It seems as though he knew FAA was on him and started doing the I am not flying, "I am only commenting" and used two (Bad I might add) impression voices to cover up the fact that he and only he was indeed flying all these flights. So FAA decided to not litigate and fine for the many flights he posts and used instead the self incriminating flights were he live streamed and burnt his own butt. He tried to circumvent by doing that (Multiple voices), and the FAA played their trump card. I find it hard to say someone that tries to circumvent and knows he is breaking laws...has "Good Intentions".

His fines would and might be so much higher if they nailed him for all infractions...what a freak'n idiot. And the even more "Funnier" part is he doesn't have near the following and subs to make pennies on his videos but the fine per video is $1500. So as this story makes more news, and he gets more hits on YouTube the more money he is going to make...So for you folks that think the same...stop watching his videos...your helping him

He just posted his "Story" 16 hours ago on his channel, a obvious way for him to monetize and garner more money.. I'm not watching the idiot whine about his side.. if you note his youtube views he is making about 5o cents, if that, on average on his videos as a whole. What a smuck

 

[MickF]

Interesting read...

FAA Fines Philadelphia Drone Pilot And Youtuber $184,500

The FAA has fined drone pilot Mikey from Philadelphia, better known as Youtube comedian PhillydroneLife, for $184,500 in civil penalties.

dronexl.co

Good.

 

[Steve L Reid]

God overlooks fools but our wonderful Government "FAA" will prosecute idiots!

 

[Droning on and on...]

Why is this "good"? Interested in hearing the logic behind your statement.

Did you not read the rest of this thread? Almost every one of his flights breaks multiple FAA regulations. They have been sending him letters for a year, which he ignored. All of this gives responsible drone pilots a bad name. It will also probably lead to more regulations. He encourages others to fly like an idiot.

I could probably go on all day about why this is good. Anyone that supports this idiot is part of the problem. I hope he ends up in jail.

 

[spsphotos]

I found him to be extremely annoying, not at ALL funny and clearly has no idea of the rules involved. Good for him for kicking drugs and losing weight. Kudos. That does NOT give him a pass on ignoring 123 warnings and then crying when they finally crack down on him. He is not improving the image of drone pilots at all. He admits to not knowing the rules...but ignorance is NOT a defense. I hope he can work out some kind of fine reduction and payment plan, but I think he does need some sort of life lesson and be held responsible. He's a man-child who should not be flying drones.

 

[karlblessing]

You'd think after a year's worth of notices, along with fellow drone pilots warning him, that he would incapable of claiming he "didn't know".

I've seen quite a few folks like him, especially on the facebook and reddit groups, clearly violating regulations and just laughing about it, or if asked to clarify they're like "I don't remember the settings", when I point out that you can just right click any original photo click properties and you'll see the height, GPS coords, etc Still "doesn't remember". Including flying straight over congested traffic while also telling a story about how they lost signal... but it wasn't over traffic when they lost signal, so it's all good... or something like that. Most if not all I see behaving like that are brand new pilots, and there's probably a reason why you don't see someone with 5,10+ years flying experience doing the same.

 

[CDRacingZX6R]

Novice here. Don’t kill me.

I understand most of the violations he’s made. Especially flying out of VLOS, etc.

Only one I’m slightly confused about. Assuming he wasn’t in controlled air space (which it seems he obviously was), isn’t it 400 feet above above ground, 400 feet above buildings, a 400 feet above a building within a radius of 400 feet?

I don’t know the area the person in the video is flying and what types of flight restrictions are there. But if the limit in the area of the sky scrapers is 400 feet, and one of the buildings is 500 foot tall, couldn’t he fly as high as 900 feet legally if he theorically maintains line of sight and the proper distance to the building?

 

[spsphotos]

Novice here. Don’t kill me.

I understand most of the violations he’s made. Especially flying out of VLOS, etc.

Only one I’m slightly confused about. Assuming he wasn’t in controlled air space (which it seems he obviously was), isn’t it 400 feet above above ground, 400 feet above buildings, a 400 feet above a building within a radius of 400 feet?

I don’t know the area the person in the video is flying and what types of flight restrictions are there. But if the limit in the area of the sky scrapers is 400 feet, and one of the buildings is 500 foot tall, couldn’t he fly as high as 900 feet legally if he theorically maintains line of sight and the proper distance to the building?

Yes, that is basically the rules as I understand them. BUT, he was in controlled air space so point is moot. He also was flying over moving vehicles and people. It's a city. Almost impossible not to given the types of flights he was doing.

 

[Droning on and on...]

Novice here. Don’t kill me.

I understand most of the violations he’s made. Especially flying out of VLOS, etc.

Only one I’m slightly confused about. Assuming he wasn’t in controlled air space (which it seems he obviously was), isn’t it 400 feet above above ground, 400 feet above buildings, a 400 feet above a building within a radius of 400 feet?

I don’t know the area the person in the video is flying and what types of flight restrictions are there. But if the limit in the area of the sky scrapers is 400 feet, and one of the buildings is 500 foot tall, couldn’t he fly as high as 900 feet legally if he theorically maintains line of sight and the proper distance to the building?

Recreational pilots are limited to 400ft AGL, period.

 

[karlblessing]

Novice here. Don’t kill me.

I understand most of the violations he’s made. Especially flying out of VLOS, etc.

Only one I’m slightly confused about. Assuming he wasn’t in controlled air space (which it seems he obviously was), isn’t it 400 feet above above ground, 400 feet above buildings, a 400 feet above a building within a radius of 400 feet?

I don’t know the area the person in the video is flying and what types of flight restrictions are there. But if the limit in the area of the sky scrapers is 400 feet, and one of the buildings is 500 foot tall, couldn’t he fly as high as 900 feet legally if he theorically maintains line of sight and the proper distance to the building?

Guess it depends on where in Philly, there's least two things that come to mind.

1) There's at least s different airports surrounding the area, a class D space up in Bensalam, and a Class B space over by Philly International. Within those spaces the altitude can range from 0 (closer to the Airport) up to 400 feet authorization zone, so if you're closer , but not too close can be limited to 200ft AGL. But in an Authorization zone you actually have to submit a LAANC request to fly, and up to a certain height it's usually automatic (apps like B4UFly, AirMap, KittyHawk, etc will tell you what space you're in and what automatic authorization is granted).

2) It also appears that there's a lot of little pockets of restricted space in Philly that are classified as prisons.

Regarding Point #1, depending on the recognizable region he was in, they can see on record if he ever filed a LAANC request.

Recreational pilots are limited to 400ft AGL, period.

Not sure that's true, as a building would still count as as the ground.

But if he's just flying 500ft+ from building to building, clearly the space in between drops in ground level.

 

[spsphotos]

I also think people who post "let's see the range of this drone" and fly it out 2-5 miles are idiots as well. Does not take a lot of brainpower to know that is well outside VLOS. ( Mod Removed Langage) anything outside of 1000-1500 feet (depending on the drone and if you have lights) is hard to keep in sight...would need extremely good eyes for that. Want to know just how far you are able to see your drone? Find a large field or very flat straight road. Have someone hold the drone and keep walking till you can no longer make it out. That's about as far as you should fly. Add to that sun, clouds, and other weather anomalies and it will be shorter. If I'm flying at 400 feet directly over my head I have a hard time seeing the Mini 2. Now go out a 500-1000ft and it's not even a dot anymore.