Flying over a beach. Okay or not?

[BuzzProp]

It’s all about how would you feel if someone else’s drone is cause of your airplane crash or buzz around you when you are trying to relax on the beach. “All things,therefore, that you want men to do to you, you also must do to them”.

 

[ScubaBob]

Just got my first drone. Mavic air. Having a huge debate with my wife as she is convinced it it not appropriate to fly it over a populated beach. She thinks that people see it as an invasion of their privacy and that parents in particular are wary of drones taking pictures of their kids (for the record, I am a parent myself to 3 young children). I fly it along the coast of the island we are on for our holidays. I fly it 40 of 50 meters high. I Don't zoom, just filming the coast line on cinematic mode and testing the ability of the drone. I stay well away from people and make sure it's far and high enough not to be noticed of seen. What's your opinion about it? Okay to fly over a beach or only fly into the open blue waters for a very boring blue video?

I live in Cancun on the beach so 90% of my flying is done over the beaches or ocean. (Much more over the beaches as it is very easy to lose the drone when over water unless you are careful.). I would say that in most instances people don't care about the drone and many wave to it. I generally am only 15-30 meters (45-90 feet) high. String bikinis are a big thing down here but at the altitude I am flying it is hard to see much skin yet every now and then someone will complain. I explain that I am not taking photos or videos of them and if they want to see what I have taken photos or videos of then they can wait until I land and I will show them my cache. I have become good friends with the beach lifeguards (I let them fly my MP every now and then and have let them all wear the Goggles while I fly) and if someone becomes a problem then the lifeguards will generally come to my aid. I get more complaints when I fly over private property such as the pool of a hotel but even that is minimal. Bottom line is that if you are courteous and respectful you should have no problems. But if you are hovering 10 feed over some face-down woman in a. thong bikini you can expect to get some grief from someone.

 

[knsaber]

I’ve flown over a bunch of beaches in Curaçao during my visit, and people are either fascinated with it or don’t care. They see me flying far away not hovering over anyone. I think the biggest factor nobody talks about is how the pilot is perceived. I’m always with my wife when flying, so I don’t look dangerous or up to no good. What wife would allow her husband to secretly film other women and children?

 

[RobH2]

I wouldn't do it if it was on a crowded day. I'd stay mainly over the water to risk the chance of injury to anyone in case it fell out of the sky. And I'd up that altitude to about 100 meters just to be sure you're not drawing attention/bothering anyone.

I agree with this post. It doesn't matter what country you are in or what the rules are, the reason for NOT flying over people is so that no one gets hurt if the drone malfunctions. As long as you fly over the water or over the shrubs on the other side you would be safe I'd think.

Most of the rules we all follow are more about safety than privacy. And safety is about common (well, maybe not so common these days) sense. Always look at a flight path and say to yourself, "if my drone shuts off and falls, could it fall on someone who has just walked directly below it?" If the answer is "yes", then change your flight path. Just because when you start flying there are big gaps between people and it's unlikely that a falling drone would hit anyone, remember, people are generally moving and that empty spot might now have 5 people in it.

 

[Macros1971]

Just got my first drone. Mavic air. Having a huge debate with my wife as she is convinced it it not appropriate to fly it over a populated beach. She thinks that people see it as an invasion of their privacy and that parents in particular are wary of drones taking pictures of their kids (for the record, I am a parent myself to 3 young children). I fly it along the coast of the island we are on for our holidays. I fly it 40 of 50 meters high. I Don't zoom, just filming the coast line on cinematic mode and testing the ability of the drone. I stay well away from people and make sure it's far and high enough not to be noticed of seen. What's your opinion about it? Okay to fly over a beach or only fly into the open blue waters for a very boring blue video?

My personal take is, you are on a beach. There is NO reasonable expectation of privacy. If you were to get within say 25 feet of someone, or to fly directly over a crowd of people at the beach, it might become a public safety issue, but one of the greatest attractions of drones is their ability to take landscape photos that can't be taken in any other way. The beach is often the focus of such photography or videography. If someone asked me what I was doing, I'd be more than happy to show them

 

[Plainview]

I'm sure many other people would think this too. Cell phones with cameras are likely the biggest threat at the beach. Almost everyone has one and it would be much easier to record people unnoticed with a phone than from a drone. Show your wife what people look like from 40-50 meters in the air and she'll probably change her mind

That’s exactly it. I was shooting at a school yard with schools permission but one of the school patrols didn’t get the memo. When I showed her the footage she just laughed. I said if you can recognize any of these kids at 400’ you have better eyes than I have!

 

[King Ming]

What about GDPR?

 

[Plainview]

What about GDPR?

And that means?

 

[King Ming]

And that means?

Ask nicely and I’ll tell you. Otherwise, google it.

Manners cost nothing.

 

[gnirtS]

My personal take is, you are on a beach. There is NO reasonable expectation of privacy.

That depends what country you're in. Some DO have strong privacy laws that would cover use of a beach. Spain comes to mind as an example.

If you were to get within say 25 feet of someone, or to fly directly over a crowd of people at the beach, it might become a public safety issue,

Both of those are illegal in most countries including the one he's in.

 

[Moby-ssx]

I don’t know if FAA means anything for folks in Europe but as rule of thumb it is not recommended to fly over populated areas especially stadiums or concert areas. If you do as it looks in photo that was the morning of really crowded day. I fly at least 100 feet above if i fly over, pass over, not to stay too long over populated areas.

Cant answer for all of europe, but in Norway its no rule of thumb..... its not legal at all to fly over crowded public areas. There is no specific number defining what a crowded area is but it covers most areas with many people including beaches thats for sure.

 

[bushie]

In Australia you are not allowed within 30m of any one not connected with operating the UAV. This 30m is a cylinder extending up to max alt. of 400 ft.

 

[stevietee10]

I'm in Croatia at the moment. The holidaymakers here are mainly locals, and German. No one approached me about it as said I am flying high and far. Its just a general debate with my wife who thinks it's completely wrong. As I am new to this, I wanted to get the opinion of other more experienced pilots. I didn't think that drones are to be used only in a human-free area. Anyone here do it?

I did the same yesterday
Took it up the coast of Gili Meno
High and out over sea filming coastline/beach no detail of people.
I was OK with it and my wife was also though she generally has same thoughts as yours
Nobody spoke to me or complained at all
Cheers
Steve

 

[Pietros]

"Yeah, don't you know it. They'll never notice the flying lawnmower sneaking up on them." Perhaps the new Mavic will have a stealth mode

 

[STKNRUD]

Since this is your first drone, I would be less concerned about whether you can fly it over a beach and more about whether you ever want to get a second drone; maybe an Inspire....happy wife, happy life.

 

[Pietros]

And always remember the first law of marriage and management - "When you are in a hole, stop digging"

 

[Andy.]

Everyone everywhere will soon quit worrying about drones overhead anywhere. They will get all the attention of passing cars or birds overhead. It's just exactly like the "No Cell Phones In Locker Rooms!" signs we saw at all the gyms when cell phone cameras first became a thing. Knee-jerk reaction. Does ANYBODY not take their phones into the locker rooms now? Of course not

I almost died of embarrassment the other week at the gym. I was checking a message in the changing room and went to lock the phone but managed to take a screenshot.... with camera shutter effect loud enough to get a few odd looks from the other guys there.

Anyway, flying over the beach, i probably wouldn’t if it was crowded, in use for sunbathing etc. The same as I don’t take my SLR with the big zoom with me either unless I’m shooting the kite surfers.

 

[Terry G]

Just got my first drone. Mavic air. Having a huge debate with my wife as she is convinced it it not appropriate to fly it over a populated beach. She thinks that people see it as an invasion of their privacy and that parents in particular are wary of drones taking pictures of their kids (for the record, I am a parent myself to 3 young children). I fly it along the coast of the island we are on for our holidays. I fly it 40 of 50 meters high. I Don't zoom, just filming the coast line on cinematic mode and testing the ability of the drone. I stay well away from people and make sure it's far and high enough not to be noticed of seen. What's your opinion about it? Okay to fly over a beach or only fly into the open blue waters for a very boring blue video?

I have been flying the shoreline of Lake Michigan (Holland) for 3 years with no issues. I avoid flying directly overhead and not slowly. More often I have beach goers wave then I will slow up and “wave” then continue on.

 

[dondi]

How did the FAA establish the rule of flying over people. I would argue that this policy is arbitrary and capricious. It is too general and needs to be specific such as no flying under 40 AGL, when a crowd is present. Question : where is the data that compiles drone incidents when flying over people ? Will the NTSB have jurisdiction over an investigation?

 

[msinger]

How did the FAA establish the rule of flying over people.

There is no such rule. However, they do suggest not doing it on their website here.

Per US law, you must follow community-based safety guidelines (which could include not flying over unprotected people) and you'll no doubt be liable if you decide to fly over people and somehow happen to injure one of them.