Flying over cars

[maxapeters]

I recently got my first job opportunity as a drone pilot. The client is aking me to fly my drone and capture video footage of a bridge. This client is a transportation firm and participated in the design of the bridge. Can I fly over the bridge to get footage if there are cars on it? I know I can fly over stationary cars but what about moving. If flying over moving cars isn't allowed, can I get a waiver to do this? I am part 107 certified but have never come across an answer to this situation. I feel like there are lots of little situations that aren't specifically answered by the FAA. Any advice helps! Thanks!
Max

 

[austinac]

From my understand you cannot fly over a moving car without a waiver. You can fly off to the side of the bridge or around just no physically over the top of a moving car.
If the company helped with the design, maybe they could get traffic stopped for a short time to get specific shots.

 

[AMann]

Good luck with the waiver, they are not just an excuse note- you have to write in mitigating plans to lessen the risks to others in the application. I wrote and received a waiver for night flying, and I believe getting one to drive over traffic probably has requirements as well in order to maintain safety, such as is it a closed course with trained drivers? Are you putting up signs warning people to stay in their cars, using spotters to warn of traffic, and if so, how are they trained? Also, will there be traffic control, does the drone have a rescue chute, how will you avoid getting the chute draped on a windshield, etc.

It takes a couple months to get a waiver approved, so overall, it may be easier to fly adjacent the bridge and under it, but not pass directly over it.

 

[AnzacJack]

Not sure on how things are there, but I can’t imagine I’d be able to get a waiver to fly over moving vehicles that are part of normal traffic. You can get great footage of bridges without flying over them

 

[DanMan32]

Especially if the bridge supports high speed traffic like on an Interstate.

 

[AMann]

Sorry I didn’t say this before, but I do commend you thinking about getting a waiver instead of going out and flying it anyway. Good luck with your first job, if you can post something from your work please do!

 

[AnzacJack]

I mean, what could go wrong

Dashcam captures drone crashing into car on Sydney Harbour Bridge

A trauma nurse is speaking out about the dangers from drones after one hit his car on the Harbour Bridge.

www.smh.com.au

(Yes, I know this is old, but still worthy of revisiting in this case)

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

I mean, what could go wrong

Dashcam captures drone crashing into car on Sydney Harbour Bridge

A trauma nurse is speaking out about the dangers from drones after one hit his car on the Harbour Bridge.

www.smh.com.au

(Yes, I know this is old, but still worthy of revisiting in this case)

It's old and still used as a very aggressive anti drone incident, because there aren't too many other incidents that are proven to have happened due to drones in Australia.

That idiot probably never had a clue about rules (it was fairly early in the drone numbers explosion) . . . besides not over vehicles (at the time) the whole of Sydney Harbour is a permanent no fly zone.
Even commercial drone pilots have to jump through some big hoops and pay a big fee to fly there, I have seen vids with those permissions maybe 3 or 4 times for videos shot.

I feel regulation is needed, and the new system is a step forward (just, but that's another story), but for the number of hobbyist and / or commercial drone flight in this country, we've had probably less than the number of fingers on your hand in the way of confirmed drone incidents of any kind.

Ok, so what is the FAA rules for flying over traffic in the US under both hobbyist and commercial drone flight ?

Here in Australia, it's very ambiguous.
The closest rule we have is . . . You must not fly your drone : in a way that creates a hazard to another person, aircraft or property

Drone safety rules

Learn the main set of rules you need to follow at all times when you fly.

www.casa.gov.au

We USED to have a rule that included buildings and vehicles (30m / 100'), but that was removed quite some time ago.

 

[Prmath]

I recently got my first job opportunity as a drone pilot. The client is aking me to fly my drone and capture video footage of a bridge. This client is a transportation firm and participated in the design of the bridge. Can I fly over the bridge to get footage if there are cars on it? I know I can fly over stationary cars but what about moving. If flying over moving cars isn't allowed, can I get a waiver to do this? I am part 107 certified but have never come across an answer to this situation. I feel like there are lots of little situations that aren't specifically answered by the FAA. Any advice helps! Thanks!
Max

I wondered about the center median on I-10 .......??‍TIA

 

[AnzacJack]

I got an approval, about 12mths ago, to fly on Sydney Harbour at evening time. Yes had to jump the hoops, but it didn’t cost me anything

 

[superstarpup]

I am part 107 certified but have never come across an answer to this situation. I feel like there are lots of little situations that aren't specifically answered by the FAA. Any advice helps! Thanks!
Max

107.39 specifically answers this.

 

[maxapeters]

Thanks for the responses everyone, I feel like I’ve put in a lot of review time but there is still a lot to learn so I appreciate the help.

There are plenty of angles I can shoot around the bridge, but it sounds like directly overhead or looking straight down the road should be avoided.

What are your opinions on flying over the bridge to shoot the other side? Should this be avoided as well? It is not a big bridge, only 2 lanes. Obviously I can land, walk to the other side and take off again, but it’d be a lot faster to just fly over the bridge to the other side. Because the bridge is so small, I assume it would be ok for me to cross when there are no cars below. I don’t think crossing an empty bridge would violate any regulations. Thoughts on this?

 

[superstarpup]

There’s nothing to prevent you from flying over an empty bridge. Or just fly under it and it won’t matter it there are cars on it.

 

[Prmath]

Thanks for the responses everyone, I feel like I’ve put in a lot of review time but there is still a lot to learn so I appreciate the help.

There are plenty of angles I can shoot around the bridge, but it sounds like directly overhead or looking straight down the road should be avoided.

What are your opinions on flying over the bridge to shoot the other side? Should this be avoided as well? It is not a big bridge, only 2 lanes. Obviously I can land, walk to the other side and take off again, but it’d be a lot faster to just fly over the bridge to the other side. Because the bridge is so small, I assume it would be ok for me to cross when there are no cars below. I don’t think crossing an empty bridge would violate any regulations. Thoughts on this?

Agree 100%. Empty bridge no harm I would think either.

 

[AnzacJack]

I don’t think a quick fly over the bridge to get to the other side would be a major problem. If it’s not peak hour traffic and plenty of opportunity to cross. Flying under not usually a great idea, but that depends on the bridge I guess.

 

[deleted member 877]

Ken Heron did a great video on how to legally fly over roads:-

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Ken Heron did a great video on how to legally fly over roads:-

Funny though, a bit of magnetic interference rising up between the structure, loss of gps around / under those motorways, his drone could have gone anywhere, and so close to moderate traffic shown in the clips.
From above, let's hope there would be no wind at the time that could easily push his falling drone onto the road not directly underneath.

We don't have legislation like that specifically, but I would (whoops edit >) NOT fly near roads here like that (common sense and basically no interest in doing so anyway).

 

[deleted member 877]

Funny though, a bit of magnetic interference rising up between the structure, loss of gps around / under those motorways, his drone could have gone anywhere, and so close to moderate traffic shown in the clips.
From above, let's hope there would be no wind at the time that could easily push his falling drone onto the road not directly underneath.

We don't have legislation like that specifically, but I would fly near roads here like that (common sense and basically no interest in doing so anyway).

I agree with you in principle and it goes without saying that factors such as wind velocity and potential magnetic interference should be taken into account. On the other hand I have been following Ken Heron since I first became interested in drones and know that, apart from being a very funny guy, he is a real stickler for the regulations.

 

[maxapeters]

Ken Heron did a great video on how to legally fly over roads:-

Thanks for sharing! The video is super helpful!

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

I agree with you in principle and it goes without saying that factors such as wind velocity and potential magnetic interference should be taken into account. On the other hand I have been following Ken Heron since I first became interested in drones and know that, apart from being a very funny guy, he is a real stickler for the regulations.

Yes, he's got a unique SOH, not sure about his general drone flying and rules etc, have seen maybe a few of his vids.

Sure, if the rule is no flying over moving vehicles / busy roads in the US, then technically he may be ok there in that example.
But if he crashed for some reason and hit a vehicle, it wouldn't be hard for FAA to prosecute if they felt like making an example.

For the OP, I would stick to maybe 100' away form the roads if traffic is flowing, sounds like filming a bridge it'd be very easy to keep a distance that will allow for more safe flying, if a gap in the traffic / not busy / early morning etc, then a quick overhead run might be possible in safety too.