Hi there, not sure if any other pilots have had this terrible loss.

[TrevorDawes]

The aircraft is 15 months old.
I do not use the same battery with each flight. i rotate between the 3 that i have.

 

[jmorales71]

Why in the world a good pilot can put at risk the drone flying around Or over a fire ?, that’s the question , that’s the reason why the governments are pushing for restrictions on the UAVS all around the world , impacting our hobby, not very smart at all In my humble opinion.

 

[WoodstockNick]

If you know people in the local fire/police departments, it can’t hurt to ask if you can fly your drone at a safe distance.
Ken Heron did a video where he saw a house fire and approached someone in command. It turned out they set it on fire for training. They gave him permission to fly.

 

[Kola]

Unlikely there would have been a TFR or drone interception if this was in Durban, South Africa.
Highly likely that, if it landed anywhere near a taxi rank in Durban, it is gone or destroyed.
Was probably not a good idea to fly there for various reasons.
Would be interesting to see the flight logs analysed to see what could have gone wrong, but it is not going to help much beyond that.

 

[Simone L]

Hi there. a building close to me was on fire so i took a flight to see from the air (This is an area well flown by me and my Mavic Pro)
The aircraft said "Landing" without warning and continued to land without the option to return home (Home GPS co-ordinates recorded before flight)
Try as i might, i could not gain control. Shortly thereafter the link was lost so the "Find my Drone feature" cannot show the exact position of the aircraft.
The sad part is that it probably landed in busy taxi rank (If this is the case, its gone forever...)
Has anyone had a similar experience? Me not a very happy person....
Is the telemetry stored on the controller and the aircraft?

Mine did that once but thankfully I was only 10 feet off the ground at my home point. I suspected it was because there was ice on the props. Hadn’t even thought about that with the freezing temps. I just chalked it up to my stupid not-thinking and dumb luck at being literally over the landing area.

 

[Smalls]

I would be interested to know if some Fire Depts. can now erect a TFR around a fire zone. They certainly should have that ability and it would explain this forced landing incident (craft finds itself suddenly in a NFZ).

If so, it would probably depend on how close you were to the fire event.

Chris

I can tell you as just coming into retirement from being a captain with City of Austin fire department, as of today we don’t carry any devices that would mess with drones. Not saying anything about what command staff are doing, but we would tend to push that off to the police department. Our involvement with drones is more in rescue and scene size ups

 

[hhung516]

You flown to a fire scene ignoring the FAA rules, then posted all the details here. Losing the drone is the last thing you need to worry about. You better hope that no one would bother to Id your drone/you and impose hefty penalties.

 

[sar104]

You flown to a fire scene ignoring the FAA rules, then posted all the details here. Losing the drone is the last thing you need to worry about. You better hope that no one would bother to Id your drone/you and impose hefty penalties.

It's already been pointed out numerous times that the OP is in South Africa, so the FAA rules are irrelevant.

Additionally, if you want to be picky, there are no specific FAA rules about flying near fires - flying in a TFR without authorization would fall under the FAA. Interfering with emergency services is a completely different issue, and not under the jurisdiction of the FAA.

 

[hhung516]

Please people DO YOUR HOMEWORK BEFORE POSTING HERE!!!!!

https://www.akdmc.com/media/8452/ak-southern-africa-drone-laws.pdf

Page 1 row 2 column 2
“Never fly near emergency response efforts such as fires.”

Same as FAA regulation.


You say it’s not a FAA regulation? Then why it’s on FAA site?

https://www.faa.gov/uas/media/FAA_drones_wildfires_toolkit.pdf

It's already been pointed out numerous times that the OP is in South Africa, so the FAA rules are irrelevant.

Additionally, if you want to be picky, there are no specific FAA rules about flying near fires - flying in a TFR without authorization would fall under the FAA. Interfering with emergency services is a completely different issue, and not under the jurisdiction of the FAA.

 

[sar104]

Please people DO YOUR HOMEWORK BEFORE POSTING HERE!!!!!

https://www.akdmc.com/media/8452/ak-southern-africa-drone-laws.pdf

Page 1 row 2 column 2
“Never fly near emergency response efforts such as fires.”

Same as FAA regulation.


You say it’s not a FAA regulation? Then why it’s on FAA site?

https://www.faa.gov/uas/media/FAA_drones_wildfires_toolkit.pdf

Firstly, the fact that the laws in SA may be similar to the laws in the US is completely irrelevant - you cannot cite FAA law over someone in SA. Secondly, the FAA guidance that you posted is about wildfires, not structure fires, and stems from the concerns about firefighting aircraft used against wildfires.

It's a bit ironic that you would try to lecture about doing homework on a subject that you know almost nothing about.

 

[hhung516]

Not trying to lecture anyone else, just the OP.

I may not know a whole lot about this topic, but at least I have some common sense. Drone and fire don’t mix PERIOD, not just limited to wildfire. FAA only talks about wildfire likely because they don’t have jurisdiction elsewhere, but the same principle extends to other fires. Take a look at this article.

the FAA guidance that you posted is about wildfires, not structure fires, and stems from the concerns about firefighting aircraft used against wildfires.

It's a bit ironic that you would try to lecture about doing homework on a subject that you know almost nothing about.

Ironically SA has very similar rules as outlined by FAA, literally the very first result of a quick google search. Yet people don’t bother to look up and think it’s ok to fly near a fire over there.

It's already been pointed out numerous times that the OP is in South Africa, so the FAA rules are irrelevant.

 

[Texbow]

Not trying to lecture anyone else, just the OP.

I may not know a whole lot about this topic, but at least I have some common sense. Drone and fire don’t mix PERIOD, not just limited to wildfire. FAA only talks about wildfire likely because they don’t have jurisdiction elsewhere, but the same principle extends to other fires. Take a look at this article.



Ironically SA has very similar rules as outlined by FAA, literally the very first result of a quick google search. Yet people don’t bother to look up and think it’s ok to fly near a fire over there.

Here is some common sense for you, do not look to the FAA rules and regulations for ANY guidance on rules and regulations in South Africa.

 

[sar104]

Not trying to lecture anyone else, just the OP.

Really - so who are the "people", and who is the "you" to whom you were responding to in this post?

Please people DO YOUR HOMEWORK BEFORE POSTING HERE!!!!!

You say it’s not a FAA regulation? Then why it’s on FAA site?

I may not know a whole lot about this topic, but at least I have some common sense. Drone and fire don’t mix PERIOD, not just limited to wildfire. FAA only talks about wildfire likely because they don’t have jurisdiction elsewhere, but the same principle extends to other fires. Take a look at this article.

Agreed, you don't, but despite that if your post had recommended using common sense and not flying near fires no one would likely have argued. Instead you invoked the aviation authority from a completely different country, then misstated that authority's regulations and jurisdiction, and went on a rampage of deflection to try to defend it. Not useful.