Flying past a ship’s bridge, got me reported

[hiflyer201]

How were you notified?
Looks like a skillful job of filming but where were you? That had to be at least a 20 minute flight. I’m having a hard time figuring out how you were tracked. It looks like that ship is in a really wide channel.

 

[Sandwich]

You fellas sound like you were all raised by Mom, who told you to never run with scissors and to eat your vegetables. Stay safe.

 

[tcope]

these ships take direct lightning strikes and gail force winds i doubt a small dji drone could cause much if any damage,,,just saying,,,,but it’s still not a wise thing to do because those on the bridge don’t know the drone pilots intentions.

Ships have a _slightly_ good ground but they do still suffer damage from lighting strikes. Been on a sailboat that was struck by lightning. Cost about $20,000 in repairs. However, since when is lightning and wind like an exploding lipo battery?

There is simply _no_ reason to fly low right over a ship where the pilot is trying to oversee such an important task. It is simply adding a headache to an already important task... and to what end?

 

[Skywatcher2001]

These ships are designed to withstand hurricanes...my done could do anything other than knock seagull do do off of it.

The mission critical communication and navigation antenna are susceptible to a drone strike. Some things on a ship get retracted and locked down in the event of a hurricane . . . not clear weather.

This brings up another thought about drone tracking that may NOT be too far off. Fighter planes have IFF systems to identify potential enemies. Drone manufactures may be required to add 'transponders' for tracking. It would be a logistical nightmare but you would only have to view the data where there were an incident or a report (like this post). Kinda like this Marine Traffic Global Map:

MarineTraffic: Global Ship Tracking Intelligence | AIS Marine Traffic

MarineTraffic Live Ships Map. Discover information and vessel positions for vessels around the world. Search the MarineTraffic ships database of more than 550000 active and decommissioned vessels. Search for popular ships globally. Find locations of ports and ships using the near Real Time ships...

www.marinetraffic.com

Just a thought . . .

 

[Kilrah]

You fellas sound like you were all raised by Mom, who told you to never run with scissors and to eat your vegetables. Stay safe.

It has nothing to do with safety, but everything to do with people's perception of the unknown.

You may know what you're doing, but the guy on the other end doesn't know that you do unless you talked to him about it, especially since the only coverage drones get in the media that he might have watched is about idiots who don't. You'd likely have had no problem if you didn't do the last pass, but there the captain likely genuinely thought you were going to crash into the boat and he'd have to deal with the mess and paperwork involved on his side for nothing in return.

It's not only about knowing what you're doing, when flying in places where others see you it's also about knowing what others might think you're doing. You need to put yourself in their shoes, and ask yourself whether that would look safe/good if you had no idea about how a drone works or what they, and their pilot (assume a bad one) are capable of.

 

[jc44224]

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Your video was great till you flew across the bridge. Its not ok to put the crew in danger. They have family and if your drone crashed for some reason and caused a spark??? WTF man common sense

 

[rainystateguy]

At the very least it doesn't seem very polite to me. It is akin to flying across the hood (bonnet) of an automobile in motion. Also you may have caused fear about your motive to those on the ship.

 

[Mavic Air Head]

I either missed it or don't see your response to where you were reported, or what the outcome of that report was- fine? Warning? Confiscation? At any rate as stated many times in this thread, general flight rules are that you don't fly over people or vehicular traffic. This qualifies as a vehicle. Not sure how you showed up on their radar, but you could have created panic on the bridge and a lot of collision avoidance warnings just by the sudden appearance and your proximity, in addition to a scare fueled by the drone attacks in Saudi Arabia recently. The "what if you crashed" scenarios are a consideration, but the aircraft was steady and not erratic, your flying was consistent, nonetheless you did not have permission to aproach the craft as you did. We could expect the same reaction if we flew in front of a bus, a train or a blimp, the space in front of any moving vehicle is a buffer that must be respected. Rules of the sea and rules of aircraft operation are pretty clear about lawful space to pass in front of another moving craft. Even if you had ship to shore radio contact, I doubt any commercial craft would grant you permission to fly over at low altitude like that. Lessons learned. I learned a long time ago when making assumptions, the best assumption is to assume I'm wrong.

 

[BigAl07]

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Going by the date this video was uploaded I'm going to assume someone saw this online and reported it to the FAA....

Good for them!! I'm surprised it took 18 months for someone to report it. Like it or not that was a less than smart move on your part there in the latter portion of the video and it warrants some "Educational Time" from the FAA.

You had a fairly interesting and entertaining video until you decided to fly directly over the cargo and directly in the view of the pilot and crew. Not your finest moment to say the least.

I'm anxious to hear the outcome of the "Interaction" between you and the FAA on this. I suspect at the least you'll get to sit down (or maybe a phone convo if you're lucky) with the Baton Rouge FSDO FAA Safety Team Rep.

 

[PoonDog]

these ships take direct lightning strikes and gail force winds i doubt a small dji drone could cause much if any damage,,,just saying,,,,but it’s still not a wise thing to do because those on the bridge don’t know the drone pilots intentions.
[/I contend that it was a good vid however I totally agree with Jaggraphiss. There is no way for the folks on the bridge to tell if your drone is just being opperated recklessly or a hand thrown , military grade targeting drone. Another thing I really dont understand is why his radar didnt fry your A--. You probably werfe under the radar so to speak.. A little higher and you would have gone up in a puff of smoke,,Maybe

 

[Proffy]

Nice one!

 

[Neil Reid]

Was it wise? Nope. Would I do it? Nope.

Would a 1.5 pound drone do any conceivable damage to a tanker? Nope. Not a chance. Not while loading/unloading, empty, full, docked, or underway. Literally wouldn't chip the paint. You've never been on one or near one if you believe any of that is possible.

 

[GerdS]

Would a single burning cigarette do any conceivable damage to such a tanker? Maybe no, maybe it makes boom...
I guess they know why smoking is forbidden on these ships!

 

[Endeavor]

I am curious as to how you know they reported you and how did they know who to report? were you so close they could read the license number on the drone?

 

[Mfpullen]

I dont know why we are trying to convince this guy of anything. He posted to get support from the community and since he got none he is going to continue to do what he feels like doing. He shows no sign of heeding any advice brought up by the forum users. What we say we ask the moderator to just end this thread.

 

[rolling56]

Pretty simple: Don't fly across ships like you did. Stay out and away from the ship and no problems i bet. But you know that now.

 

[MavicBob]

Uh oh, a hurricane/fire proof tanker goes up in flames. No wonder the crew was a little concerned seeing your drone fly over their ship.
Fire on oil tankers at South Korean port injures nine: Yonhap

 

[marcorasi1960]

Who reported whom to whom? How did the ship know whose drone was flying and how did the drone pilot know a report was made?

 

[Dawmich]

Are you really suprised? I don't understand why. My mavic will not destroy a car but I have no intention to fly in front of them on the highway. It was silly and risky behavior. Common sense and thinking ahead should be a must do for everybody. It may sounds like no fun but its is necessery.

 

[MavicPro1966]

Was it really reported?