How do you handle people who tell you you're not allowed to fly your drone, when you know it's allowed?

[Eagle Eye 62]

I do several Part 107 flights per week and have been approached only a handful of times. ALL of the encounters were by curious onlookers. No one ever questioned me about the legality of it. Depending on where a particular job is, I do several things that I hope will lessen the chances of an unpleasant encounter:

1. I dress professionally
2. I use my "good" car rather than my beater. I'd actually prefer to drive my beater, but again, this is all in the interests of not getting hassled.
3. This is the most important one. I WEAR A SAFETY VEST. It doesn't say FAA Pilot on it or anything pretentious like that, but I believe it might make me look much more legit.

The vest idea is a good one. I think anything that makes you look more "Legit" will tend to calm people down. I ran into a guy near a High School that was all freaked out and I calmed him down by handing him a business card and explaining why I was flying where I was.

 

[hiflyer201]

I guess I scout the locations pretty well before flying. I've never had the problem.

 

[GrayHornet]

Like many here, I try to be as polite as possible, but I'm relatively unimpressed by control freaks. If someone is interested in my drone and flight, I'll happily spend time with them and explain everything they want to know. If it's some control freak trying to exert authority, I'm under no obligation whatsoever to explain anything.

My first question would be, "And Sir or Madam, what authority do you have to hinder me in my flight?" Unless they show me a badge or FAA credential, they can take a hike!

Agreed. I said once to a person, "Let me land safely and then you can cite and show me what Ordinance you're relying on." He walked away.

 

[EpicFlight]

As I've said, I'm a bit more grumpy about these sorts of interactions than many here seem to be. A bit more detail to set the context:

• I've never been hassled or questioned by any private onlooker in 8 years.
• All interaction with strangers has been positive, curiosity, usually about what the drone can do, and amazement.
• I fly at the beach a lot, so there are always people around. While setting up if there's anyone within speaking distance, enjoying the environment, I always ask them if they mind me launching there, and if no, I'll pack up. Never had a "no".
• I do have a very bright, hard line between interacting While flying vs. on the ground. If I'm in the air I politely make it clear I can't give them attention while I'm flying for safety reasons. I invite them to stick around, or come back when they see me land. That would be my response to a busy-body too, if I ever get hassled.

I think the nature of the beach environment – why people are there – just contextually eliminates the usual private citizen motive for challenging a pilot's right to fly there. Private residential areas provide an obvious reason to get one's dander up.

 

[Frank Dracman]

Also please forgive me if this seems offensive, but I looked at your profile photo and so I ask do you think white supremacy racism may play a role in your wanting to be prepared? Really I hate to ask this, but I'm such an anti-racist I have to ask.

Have you ever encountered an LEO while flying or heard about such an encounter?

Also please forgive me if this seems offensive, but I looked at your profile photo and so I ask do you think white supremacy racism may play a role in your wanting to be prepared? Really I hate to ask this, but I'm such an anti-racist I have to ask.

Please forgive me if this seems offensive, but
For someone who claims to be so anti-racist that's quite a judgmental statement based on a profile photo.

 

[Fuzzman18]

Yesterday someone approached me as I was landing and told me I wasn't allowed to fly my drone where I was, but I knew it was allowed. I won't get into the details of why I think I was allowed and the other person didn't think so, because that's not the point of this question. My question is about how you handle people who approach you like this. I imagine this has happened to many other folks. What did you do or would you do?

Buy an FAA drone vest on Amazon.

 

[Capt KO]

B4UFLY should be on your phone or device. It knows where you are on a map with words in Green “Clear for Takeoff”, along with your lat/longs. Just pull it out and show the uninformed right on the map that it’s legal to fly where he/she is standing. No fly zone circles are also shown. They will leave or ask to watch. Happens often enough, particularly on the beach. Be kind and teach.

 

[RobW01]

Yesterday someone approached me as I was landing and told me I wasn't allowed to fly my drone where I was, but I knew it was allowed. I won't get into the details of why I think I was allowed and the other person didn't think so, because that's not the point of this question. My question is about how you handle people who approach you like this. I imagine this has happened to many other folks. What did you do or would you do?

Assuming I was flying according to the rules, I would tell them so, politely. If they persisted I would give them my business card and suggest that they report me to the police (most don’t know who the aviation authority is).

 

[Merrill277]

I once Had a fish and game officer tell me I was breaking the law. He asked if I had read the law. I said I had and didn’t think I was doing anything wrong. I took the time to explain the law as I understood it. I explained that all my videos were on the microchip and asked him to just take that and view the videos to see that I wasn’t doing anything wrong. He confiscated my drone. I gave him two weeks and then asked for it back. He called me and explained his position, apologized then expedited it back to me. The problem we’re seeing is that drones for many are relatively new and people don’t know much About them. So they complain and take the hard stance.

 

[WDKZoom]

While flying for the joy of it and perhaps capturing the scenery as well is by no means a hill to die on, at some point you will have to drive 50 miles away from anyone in all directions just to have this hobby…….let them know without all the documentation that you believe it’s ok to fly in the spot you have chosen and if they believe otherwise, they can call the authorities and state your case to them.

WDK

 

[Dangerly]

Please forgive me if this seems offensive, but
For someone who claims to be so anti-racist that's quite a judgmental statement based on a profile photo.

I forgive you.

 

[PinpointUAVS]

Thanks PRD, you gave me an idea. I'm thinking I'll print out everything I can find to support my position that I'm allowed to fly in a particular location, put it in a hard-bound notebook labeled "Why I'm allowed to fly here" and leave it plainly visible where I'm flying. As I fly in new locations, I could add new sections to this notebook. The more I think about it, the more I like this idea. It would be a good exercise to do anyway I think.

I made an info sheet in photoshop and had a bunch of copies printed at a local print shop. I made my own A-frame signs with a warning not to disrupt the ongoing flight and a pocket to place the info sheets. When I flew, I had pylons around the perimeter of my takeoff/landing zone with a A-frame on each side.

I realize this is impractical for a hobbyist, it’s just what I did for my paid jobs. I can honestly say in nearly 3 years of doing this, I’ve never had a single person enter the takeoff/landing zone or try to grab my attention during flight. I have had people stop to ask questions when packing up my gear.

 

[Howard70]

…. While setting up if there's anyone within speaking distance, enjoying the environment, I always ask them if they mind me launching there, and if no, I'll pack up. Never had a "no"....

I also ask. Like you, I’ve never had someone say they would prefer I not fly. I think being friendly enough to consider someone else’s preference for solitude or to respect their wishes (whether they are right or wrong) is so surprising nowadays that folks respond in kind.

Howard

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Watch PJ Audits on YouTube, he goes out and always has people come up to him.

without having seen the channel, I assume they are doing things to invite confrontations?

To me it seems so, yes @spamgnome

Numerous such 'auditors' fly drones really blatantly in and around businesses, recording people on the job, they go into business property if they can, try locked gates, video equipment, and love to annoy police, often using action cams and drones.

I mean how many normal people go to a large corporations property, walk around it filming closely, stopping to comment on this machine, that warehouse, it's sometimes just ridiculous, waiting for someone to notice them and come out to see what's going on.

There are numerous channels like this, strangely viewers seem to be positive to these very obvious attempts to get peoples backs up with their antics.

 

[Yaros]

We are people, we can communicate: I don't mind someone approaching me asking something, while it's not distracting. Normally in that situation I hover the drone, and then talk to the person.
Yes, it sucks when someone approaches you and just isn't respectful, but if you're flying legally, in an area you can fly, there is no need to worry about anything.
I had a couple of people approach me during flying, some respectful, some not at all, but after a brief talk they normally go away anyway.

 

[devellis]

As others have said, I think courtesy is important so that things don't escalate and so as not to further hostility toward drone flying more generally. I think in the situation described I'd say that I really didn't want to be flying where I wasn't allowed to and so always determined where and when I could fly before taking off. I'd go on to say that my systematic review of the regulations led me to believe that it was perfectly fine to be flying where I was but that I'd be happy to be educated if the person can point me to some regulation or restriction I'd missed. I'd also ask who controls/regulates that particular location. Is it private property, for example? If the person just asserts that it's illegal and can't support that argument, I'd point out that their assertion is at odds with the charts, etc. that I'd reviewed prior to flight. If I was on the ground, I might bring up some charts to look at with them. On the other hand if it turns out the person is right (it could happen, I suppose), I'd thank them, apologize for having been in the wrong, and tell them I'd be sure not to make the same mistake again.

Lots of people don't like drones or the people who fly them, for reasons that almost always are unfounded. Confronting those people is a lot less likely to change their views than interacting with them respectfully. It can be hard to stay cool when someone is confrontational and wrong but I think it's worth the effort. Otherwise, the hate just spreads and it will get tougher and tougher to operate a drone. Over time, the prevalence of drones will steadily increase. Conveying to people that drone operators are respectful and careful seems like a worthwhile goal if we want to avoid backlash. And let's face it: for every drone operator who knows and follows the rules and takes the activity seriously, there are some number of jackasses who've never learned a thing about drones, haven't taken any precautions, and are just buzzing around until they total the (usually inexpensive) aircraft. The same is true in pretty much every hobby. Some take it seriously and some get a kick out of breaking all the rules. The more often we can show ourselves to be in the former category, the less hostility we'll all face.

 

[keysol]

I haven't faced such a situation yet but someone I know said to me that he doesn't engage them in a debate. He simply responds with: "You're wrong, but if you think otherwise and feel that strongly about it I suggest you call the police and let them deal with the matter."

 

[Tufargon]

I've never encountered it either but with the intelligence these people show I'd probably get away with saying "It's ok, it's not a drone. It's a quadcopter".

 

[Kola]

I mostly fly where there are no, or very few people.

The few times I fly when there are people around, to date nobody has approach me to tell me I am not allowed to fly where I am, but some have approached because they are interested in the drone.

If I am in a situation where this happens my attitude will be determined by their attitude at the time, but very likely I will just land and wait for them to leave and rather fly another time.

 

[Skyryder]

Some people just want to cause trouble. I was hassled about a year ago just taking pics outside on a public walkway with a 360 cam, not even a drone. Some dude came up to me and said I know what that is and you do not have permission to film me. You are invading my space. The guy was literally 500 feet away from where I was standing before he came up to me. When I tried to explain him it was a public space and I was not trying to get people in the shot, he would not take no for an answer. So I just picked up my mini tripod and move all the way to the end ramp. But that was not good enough for him, he fallowed me! So when I put the cam behind a big wide column, he cam around so he would purposely be in the shot. And when I moved the camera again, he moved again. At which point it was obvious he wanted to get in a fight. So I just packed it up quickly and left.

I really didn't want to get into a fight and possible police involved over a photograph. But also hated myself for backing down and letting someone intimidate me. I had every right to be there. It took me a week before I wanted to walk by that part of the street again. In hindsight I probably did the right thing but It really disturbed me.

Bottom line, no paperwork or id card is going to matter to someone who really wants to confront you. There's usually other things going on with them that have nothing to do with what you are actually doing. They are not worth the frustration.