Kids throwing Stones at Drones

[Joe4flight]

Flying over my property, I was taking pics of my HOA's pond today, and heard some kids yelling.

Then I heard something hit the side of the house.

The little brats were trying to throw stones at my Mavic Air...WTF?!

When they came closer to the fence, I asked them "Are you kids okay?" Twice.

Translation: stop throwing stones at my drone little (expletive removed)s!

After landing, I realized I had caught a five-shot AEB of the kid throwing the stone.

I then shamed them on Nextdoor - with pictures.

Nice throw, kid!

Looking at the flight logs, I never left my property.

Anyone have any thoughts about this situation?

I agree with the frustration you expressed in your comments! I too had a similar experience with kids trying to hit my MPP with a large stick when I was hovering low letting them get a close up look as well as showing the respectful kids their images on my phone transmitted by the drone. I quickly raised the drone above their reach and firmly told them that the drone was not a toy and was very costly which they or their parents would have to pay for if they damaged my drone. Respect and cooperation followed.

 

[Aussie Oldtimer]

Lucky that you arent in aust because you cant fly within 30m of people. full stop.

Im so glad i dont live in the US

I would call the FBI.

Kids are outside playing and doing things kids used to do instead of sitting in their rooms getting fatter by the day playing video games.

Horrific, especially with all the damage they did.

 

[Aussie Oldtimer]

Century Village Boca Raton tried to prevent me from flying my Phantom drone back In 2014 over my condominium. I was sent a cease and desist letter. I told the lawyer to complain to the FAA as I was following all UAS rules. Two inspectors, PHOTO ATTACHED, from the Miramar, Florida office called me up and said they needed to interview me about the complaint from the Century Village’s lawyer.

I spoke to them and showed the aerial photos and politely answered all their questions. Although all field inspectors are licensed pilots, neither one had any hands-on experience with UASs. They wanted to know how I knew altitude, battery life, etc., so I showed them the DJI app. They told me that the FAA controls the airspace over Century Village “right down to the grass.” They said as long as I complied with the 400’ maximum altitude and did not fly over people or structures I was legally permitted to fly.

I still fly my Mavic Pro over my village and urge other UAS owners to stand up to their HOA or CONDO COMMANDO boards and lawyers like I did. Feel free to use the letter, attached, which is a public domain document on FAA stationery, to convince your oppressors that you have the right to fly, compliant with the rules, in the FAA-controlled airspace over your condo or HOA.View attachment 76099View attachment 76100today

I assume that you are Ok with posting your private details on the web?

 

[FlyGuy8675309]

I still fly my Mavic Pro over my village and urge other UAS owners to stand up to their HOA or CONDO COMMANDO boards and lawyers like I did. Feel free to use the letter, attached, which is a public domain document on FAA stationery, to convince your oppressors that you have the right to fly, compliant with the rules, in the FAA-controlled airspace over your condo or HOA. today

Your HOA must have decided it wasn't worth pursuing, or they could have just labeled your activity a nuisance and took action against you if you kept operating your UAV from within the HOA. I appreciate you know the FAA controls the airspace, but your HOA control the ground. If they don't want you taking off, landing, and/or operating within the HOA controlled-area they are 100% able to stop you from doing so. Nothing to do with the FAA. Read your CCR's and you'll see you singed away every property right you may think you have.

My advice for those who get a letter from HOA is to work with them. If you get mixed up with a strong board that has a good lawyer, you could find yourself shelling out the equivalent to a fully loaded Matrice if you want to fight them.

 

[45er]

That kids do stupid and irresponsible things is not the issue. The issue arises when they do it and suffer no consequences. The "consequences", fairly exacted, are what keep them from continuing to do "stupid and irresponsible" things all the way through adolescence and adult hood. Many who don't suffer any consequences end up with the state having to deal with them!

 

[Scubadiver1944]

That kids do stupid and irresponsible things is not the issue. The issue arises when they do it and suffer no consequences. The "consequences", fairly exacted, are what keep them from continuing to do "stupid and irresponsible" things all the way through adolescence and adult hood. Many who don't suffer any consequences end up with the state having to deal with them!

Excellent point! Reminds me of witnessing from an upstairs window last year 8 or 10 teenagers throwing rocks at next door shop-keepers' cars parked in the back lot of their shops, presumably "for fun". I'd barely sat back down in my living room when Bang! The same gang, standing at my front gate, threw a rock at my front bay window! Went out & advised them they could face the consequences of a meeting with Mr Baseball Bat. You should've seen them scatter!

 

[Amarand]

Excellent point! Reminds me of witnessing from an upstairs window last year 8 or 10 teenagers throwing rocks at next door shop-keepers' cars parked in the back lot of their shops, presumably "for fun". I'd barely sat back down in my living room when Bang! The same gang, standing at my front gate, threw a rock at my front bay window! Went out & advised them they could face the consequences of a meeting with Mr Baseball Bat. You should've seen them scatter!

Probably a dumb question, but did you call the police?

 

[Amarand]

I'm seeing a lot of "kids being kids" messages here, which is odd, because yes, we were all kids and we all did stupid stuff, but I'm assuming we were all smart enough to not taunt flying cameras with spinny blades?

To address a few of the questions I saw:

1) The pond is shared, community (HOA) property. My property abuts the pond. So I'm taking pictures of the pond (and the trees, and the sky) almost 100% from my property. Sometimes I venture out, but during the day, when I have time to practice before work, I don't really have a large VLOS slice of the sky, so I just practice in the backyard, and it's a good way to get in drone flying practice and take fun pictures.

2) There is no expectation of privacy in public locations, but I'm also a semi-considerate photographer. I am NOT hovering over people, or near people. The kids were down by the edge of the pond, and my drone was 20 feet AGL (probably 30 feet above their ground level) over my property. The kid's got a heck of a throwing arm, though!

3) I didn't call the police this time, because I didn't want to be viewed as one of those "get off my lawn, ya' damned kids!" Even though I'm at that age where I have the propensity to say that, I don't. My house has a 9' buffer on that side (minimum allowed by law), so what looks like my property is not. Not a big deal.

4) I have cameras on the front and back door, for security, but I don't (yet) have cameras overseeing the front driveway and side yard (facing the pond). I've considered getting those, as it would help me track comings and goings. Again, the pond is public/shared/HOA property and my property is my own, so I can put cameras anywhere I like, facing any direction I'd like. I might end up installing a pond-facing camera at some point, but my drone does a pretty good job when it's up in the air.

5) I once had someone in the neighborhood on the Nextdoor app go off on me because I have cameras on my entryway doors, and sometimes I'll run out (staying on my property) and take pictures of people and vehicles that might be causing damage (or who might be trespassing - the pond is for the exclusive use of HOA members and there are signs all over the place). One time, we had "ding dong dashers" where the kids run up and ring the doorbell then run away. I have a daytime/nighttime camera with very bright IR lights and IR sensitive camera, so I have a seven-day rolling full-HD history of everything that happens at my front and back door. Neighbors were sharing pictures and video (on YouTube) of the culprits. This crazy guy ended up going down the "if you're taking pictures or video of children [even in public] you're a pedophile" road and I was like "WTF!?" So, I try to choose what I share on Nextdoor carefully, because there are some nutjobs out there. (Come to find out later that he's a well-known nutjob in the neighborhood, disliked by most, so I wasn't his first random nutjob target.) To summarize: taking pictures of kids in public is not illegal. At least not in the U.S. Wouldn't want to do that without permission around a kids' park or a school, but those aren't really considered "public" and I'm a considerate photographer, who'd ask a parent for permission first. But in public spaces, we have a general "right of panorama" and NO legal expectation of privacy unless explicitly stated - usually with a sign and a fence. Taking pictures of kids playing at the HOA pond, whether intentional or incidental (I'm not really a fan of taking pictures of most people, so most of my pictures of people are incidental, like "damnit, there's a kid in the shot, can't use that one.")

Anyway.... I appreciate everyone sharing their opinions, legal dealings with the FAA and police, and their own stories in general. The main reason why I posted was, obviously, to find out if anyone else had experienced this type of crap with kids, what they'd done about it, and if it was successful.

I have an annual calendar with small squares, and one of my "do it every day" dots is "fly the drone." It's up there with "four glasses of water," "read," "eat a healthy meal," and "exercise." Even if I only fly a single battery of my Mavic Air every day, it's good practice. So I don't want some kids ruining my practice over my own property by intentionally tossing rocks at my aircraft, and also at my house. It really sucks.

 

[Rick0504N]

If the internet didn’t exist, what would you have done?

 

[Amarand]

If the internet didn’t exist, what would you have done?

Probably would have called the police, let them figure out who the kids were. Maybe approach the kids and tell them to stop throwing stuff. I don't know. What would YOU have done?

 

[zocalo]

Probably would have called the police, let them figure out who the kids were. Maybe approach the kids and tell them to stop throwing stuff. I don't know. What would YOU have done?

That would kinda depend on the exact scenario - how many kids and how old for a start. Generally though, I'd aim to go for an escalation path something like the following depending on the severity and number of occurances:

A friendly "Knock it off" chat with the kids - maybe even compliment them on their accuracy to help keep it light hearted.
A less friendly "Knock it off" chat with the kids.
Escalate to parents, assuming I knew who the kids were, otherwise go straight to the next step.
Escalate to cops, etc..

 

[DoomMeister]

If the posts on Nextdoor are fruitless and it happens again use the police. It protects you from being accused of any type of abuse with kids or parents.

Things are not like when I was a kid when the last thing you wanted was to piss off a neighbor to the point they went to your parents.

 

[Herbie D]

Here’s something to throw out there (pun not intended). If you find them, why not invite them to have a fly?
We were all kids once and I know that I did worse stuff before I grew some brains.
They are probably bored. May get them back on track and get some pilots one day.
I know it’s easier said than done but just a thought.

 

[Scubadiver1944]

Probably a dumb question, but did you call the police?

Since 2010, not long after the economic crash, our then Home Secretary Theresa May (currently our Prime Minister), in response to calls from officials in the UK Treasury for cuts in the national budget, slashed funding to the police, which meant, between 2010 & 2016, 21,500 less police on the streets of Britain. Phone calls to the police lead only to being given a crime number and as for them attending an incident as described , forget it, only if life & limb are at serious risk . At the same time, I and several hundred of my colleagues working for our local city council had our jobs cut. In this continuing economic climate here little wonder the UK government want to charge drone flyers over $20 each and every year for the authorities to police us with their drone registration scheme!

 

[BarrySDCA]

I would make contact with the parents. If you don't think you're getting anywhere with that then let them know that drones are considered "aircraft", just like airplanes and they are likely violating many federal laws with this behavior.

Also invite the kids to come fly with you. Probably most important.

 

[awsan5]

Flying over my property, I was taking pics of my HOA's pond today, and heard some kids yelling.

Then I heard something hit the side of the house.

The little brats were trying to throw stones at my Mavic Air...WTF?!

When they came closer to the fence, I asked them "Are you kids okay?" Twice.

Translation: stop throwing stones at my drone little (expletive removed)s!

After landing, I realized I had caught a five-shot AEB of the kid throwing the stone.

I then shamed them on Nextdoor - with pictures.

Nice throw, kid!

Looking at the flight logs, I never left my property.

Anyone have any thoughts about this situation?

Well done

 

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

So, any responses from the neighbors, parents of the kids?

 

[Troy.Spark]

Your HOA will respond by banning drones! I'm actually shocked they haven't yet.

Technically they can not control the air above the ground that’s FFA job

 

[SandiSCE]

Century Village Boca Raton tried to prevent me from flying my Phantom drone back In 2014 over my condominium. I was sent a cease and desist letter. I told the lawyer to complain to the FAA as I was following all UAS rules. Two inspectors, PHOTO ATTACHED, from the Miramar, Florida office called me up and said they needed to interview me about the complaint from the Century Village’s lawyer.

I spoke to them and showed the aerial photos and politely answered all their questions. Although all field inspectors are licensed pilots, neither one had any hands-on experience with UASs. They wanted to know how I knew altitude, battery life, etc., so I showed them the DJI app. They told me that the FAA controls the airspace over Century Village “right down to the grass.” They said as long as I complied with the 400’ maximum altitude and did not fly over people or structures I was legally permitted to fly.

I still fly my Mavic Pro over my village and urge other UAS owners to stand up to their HOA or CONDO COMMANDO boards and lawyers like I did. Feel free to use the letter, attached, which is a public domain document on FAA stationery, to convince your oppressors that you have the right to fly, compliant with the rules, in the FAA-controlled airspace over your condo or HOA.View attachment 76099View attachment 76100today

Nice letter. Did they ever complain again?

 

[Steve L]

Now I know why lions eat their young