Is FAA rules such a BIG deal?

[flockshot]

Lately just browsing through the posts I have seen lots of people nagging on others about how to stay within line of sight, or "Legal altitude" but are these rules really something to take into account? To be honest, who's going to catch you when your 2 miles away and 1500 feet up getting a shot of a life time like I like to do. Just curious on everyone's opinion of following all the rules.

Yes

 

[Bazzam]

Yes

No

 

[Down East Drone]

Are you for real? If so your drone should be confiscated, you should be fined and face possible jail time No photo is worth placing other people's lives in jeopardy.

 

[khooper802]

Your original post stated:

"who's going to catch you when your 2 miles away and 1500 feet up getting a shot of a life time like I like to do"​

Now you say that you rarely do that. Which is it? Was that a serious post or are you just here trolling?

My quote exactly "I rarely do that" meaning that I only do that when I'm not in town and let's say there's a nice sunset I want to incorporate into my photo or something.

 

[khooper802]

I recall a couple of years ago and attended to a body. It was being treat as suspicious circumstances until we retrieved the memory card from his camera.
In an attempt to ‘take the shot of a life time’ this gent had climbed over a safety barrier and onto the outside of a bridge which was fitted with anti climb guards as well. He obviously thought the rules didn’t apply to him...which was probably his last thoughts on Earth because when he slipped and fell off the bridge, landing many feet below, the lens of his Nikon smashed through his forehead and embedded itself into his brain causing instant death.

But thats not applicable to this as we would not need to hop a fence for one, we have range and there would be no reason to hop a fence

 

[khooper802]

Are you for real? If so your drone should be confiscated, you should be fined and face possible jail time No photo is worth placing other people's lives in jeopardy.

I said that rarely do I go above others and their property, mainly over roads and fields. And again, my question was getting caught and how would I get my drone confiscated in the first place if I'm two miles from my house.

 

[khooper802]

Some people choose to perceive any risk in the most absolute worst case scenario terms... burning planes, chaos,death and destruction.
But the evidence is lacking, for 99.99% of drone pilots - the real immediate risk to themselves or others is the boring mundane - high blood pressure,smoking, diabetes,car travel etc.
Just fly your drone, be considerate to others and try have some fun !!!!

I agree the odds of me "Colliding with an aircraft" is so low, I've only seen it once, but it was a drone at an airport going at a place that was taking off. I am considerate of others and don't fly over people much and I always make way for aircrafts I see coming "near" my Mavic or Inspire.

 

[choo choo]

But thats not applicable to this as we would not need to hop a fence for one, we have range and there would be no reason to hop a fence

My point is that the gent didn’t adhere to the safety rules. He wanted the ‘shot of his lifetime’ and didn’t think of the consequences of his actions. The safety fence was there for a reason, just as safety rules are there for a reason, they are a fence albeit not in the physical sense. I lost 3 colleagues and 7 others killed when someone decided he would spend hours on the internet instead of getting sleep, he then drove his car and trailer along a motorway (freeway in the states), having passed 2 rest stops. He fell asleep at the wheel, Crashed off the motorway and onto a railway line, the express train that hit his trailer derailed, travelling at 125mph the derailed Train ploughed into on oncoming freight train, killing 10 innocent people. Now we all know it’s daft to drive tired, even dafter to ignore the signs of tiredness and not stop for a break. But this guy thought it would be ok, I mean what could possibly happen? He chose to ignore the rules and the consequences, I mean hey, it’s not as if he could cause a major disaster, he probably thought it was perfectly safe. Sadly for 10 innocent people and their families, they paid the price.

 

[flockshot]

No

Just trying to save a guy some grief.

 

[sar104]

I agree the odds of me "Colliding with an aircraft" is so low, I've only seen it once, but it was a drone at an airport going at a place that was taking off. I am considerate of others and don't fly over people much and I always make way for aircrafts I see coming "near" my Mavic or Inspire.

The problem is that the probability of any mid-air collision is low, but they happen - that's why there are air traffic rules and, now, UAV rules. You can certainly work on the basis that the probability of any individual pilot (in this case you) causing a collision is very low and therefore you are willing to ignore the rules. But if the use of drones continues to proliferate and everyone, or just large numbers of pilots, ignores the rules, then now the combined probability of all those non-compliant flights goes way up. Any sense of personal responsibility here, or are you just happy to take your chances since no one is likely to catch you?

 

[flockshot]

We have got a long way to go in this droning endeavor we at taking part in. I hope we get enough of us that want to do it right.

 

[dronerdave]

The problem is that the probability of any mid-air collision is low, but they happen - that's why there are air traffic rules and, now, UAV rules. You can certainly work on the basis that the probability of any individual pilot (in this case you) causing a collision is very low and therefore you are willing to ignore the rules. But if the use of drones continues to proliferate and everyone, or just large numbers of pilots, ignores the rules, then now the combined probability of all those non-compliant flights goes way up.

Yep and drone pilots are a minority compared to the masses. The media will blow any incident out of context if they can up the ratings making it easier to pass more drone flying regulations. Thankfully (as far as I know), nobody has used a drone to purposely to cause an incident.

Myself I'd be more concerned about loosing the drone and having it hit somebody or something. The word sue comes to mind...flying w/i the rules of not. All one could hope for is if you were w/i the rules you'd have a better chance in court (if it came to that). Finding the pilot just depends on how much stealth is used during the incident and what kind of info is tied to the operators aircraft. I'd think in the case of a death or serious injury caused by a drone, the officials would be going through everything with a fine tooth comb. It's easy to think that something bad happening is rare if it's directly caused by a drone such as slamming into somebody, but something like an uncontrolled landing doesn't just mean you're clear if it doesn't hit something. For instance it lands/crashes on the road and a driver simply swerves to avoid a pile of crap in their path, causing the driver to roll their vehicle or crash. Probably a stretch to be linked to an accident but I wouldn't feel vindicated if the authorities couldn't find me as the operator... my conscience however would bother me. As more and more people pick up the hobby, more incidents are bound to happen. I just hope we're not regulated to death in the near future.

 

[microlinux]

My quote exactly "I rarely do that"

Safety is easiest to implement in a predictable environment. It really doesn't matter if you fly up to 1500' (for example) once or twenty times. Each time you do, its a discrete event. It only takes a single mistake to cause a serious problem.

 

[787steve]

I agree that a lot of pictures are better taken below 500' but some that I take above the clouds or when I make a video of me cloud surfing are above 500' easily. I like to get HDR shots of full city's and landscapes

Are you taking off above the clouds, or flying through them?

 

[RayOZ]

there are people who are a little self-absorbed about having their fun, they only take a short moment to look over their shoulders and make the assumption that everything looks fine and proceed to do whatever they want. once you are focused on doing something, your peripheral situation awareness drops. that's when things can go wrong (but they dont think about it, and frown on people who do).

 

[Mavflyer]

Most of the people ITT have probably answered a phone call, read a text, or messed with the radio, all while driving a one ton machine of death cruising 70 mph, which statistically speaking, is probably incredibly more dangerous than flying a drone a little outside the legal limits.

 

[ac0j]

Boy are we going to have trouble when a drone actually does more than cause a bruise, or make a little cut.
To read some of these posts, people are convinced that flying over people could kill them. Just a little extreme I think.
That being said, pictures from higher than a couple hundred feet are not that special. They have been taken from real aircraft for years. I dont want to let my mavic out of my sight.

 

[RayOZ]

Most of the people ITT have probably answered a phone call, read a text, or messed with the radio, all while driving a one ton machine of death cruising 70 mph, which statistically speaking, is probably incredibly more dangerous than flying a drone a little outside the legal limits.

yes. that's why there's laws against doing such things while driving. and people shouldn't do that, but some think it's ok cos it doesnt harm anyone. what's your point?

 

[ac0j]

yes. that's why there's laws against doing such things while driving. and people shouldn't do that, but some think it's ok cos it doesnt harm anyone. what's your point?

His point is the last 20 or so words in that worlds longest sentence attempt!

Comparing hitting people at 70 MHP with 2 ton vehicles is not even close to comparing hitting someone with a 1 pound or less drone. Cars kill every day, a drone hasnt killed at all. (yet)

 

[sar104]

His point is the last 20 or so words in that worlds longest sentence attempt!

Comparing hitting people at 70 MHP with 2 ton vehicles is not even close to comparing hitting someone with a 1 pound or less drone. Cars kill every day, a drone hasnt killed at all. (yet)

While that's quite true, the risk is obvious. So what should we do? Ignore the rules until a collision with an aircraft does cause a serious event? Ignore the rules even then, since cars will always kill more people than drones? Perhaps repeal the homicide laws, because cars will always kill more people than homicide? Reductio ad absurdum.