Police hold drone hysteria press event in Pennsylvania

[LowCountryFlyer]

They are kind of correct about some of the stuff. Helicopters do not have altitude restrictions associated with them. While fixed wing aircraft must maintain at least 1000 feet AGL while flying over urban areas and 500 feet AGL when flying over rural areas, Helos can fly right down on the deck, if they want to, so long as they don’t pose a collision hazard to persons or property.

Prior to the introduction of quad copters, unmanned aircraft were largely restricted to RC enthusiasts who were flying say around a public park, or a designated RC airport, and they were fairly easy to avoid. These days with the capability of modern quad copters like Mavics, Typhoons, etc. UAVs are everywhere. And they’re often flown by careless, reckless, irresponsible people or just plain idiots or attention seekers (see my post on why people hate drones). It only costs about $100 for an entry level drone and you’re in the game. And yeah many of those people have never read the laws nor hold part 107 certificates. Accidents, police activity, etc will attract people and there is a high probability of a MAC.

That being said, I think it would be fitting karma if a drone flown by an idiot collided with a helicopter operated by Extra or Inside Edition to capture another stupid celebrity police chase, or high speed pursuit.

 

[Drbobk]

. I am extremely happy that billions of dollars has made its way to China and not the US. And that is the ONLY reason for all this negative hysterical drone coverage in the media. Its all about MONEY and absolutely NOTHING else.

if anyone sees me flying my drone, they always have questions*, but I can pretty much guarantee that none of them even bother to think about where it was manufactured.

*how high can it fly, how far away, how much did it cost, do you need a license, how long do the batteries last, etc. like the T-shirt: Drone T-Shirt Questions! | Zazzle.com

 

[robert2]

Its funny, the writer of the article mentions Bryant because he was a celebrity, but he makes no mention of the other 8 people who lost their lives in the copter crash?

Nor does he make any mention of the very poor decision that was made to fly a helicopter in very dangerous foggy weather.

ALL BS TO GET YOUR ATTENTION

 

[sar104]

If commercial drone deliveries from Amazon, UPS, FedX and every mom and pop pizza joint become a reality, we can only assume that potential drone near hits with the public or other aircraft will exponentially rise. It always amazes me to see all the media hoopla when it comes to OUR little drones but yet nobody in the media seems to be in the least bit concerned with the likely arrival of these delivery drones, which will be considerably larger and more likely to cause harm than our little "toys". By their intended usage, the delivery drone WILL be flying in locations we are currently NOT permitted to fly in.
I guess we hobbyist drone fliers are a much easier target to pick on that large commercially backed outfits.
Oh well, time will tell how it all turns out.

So you are concerned that they are not interested in problems with sUAS that don't yet exist, conducting operations that have not yet happened?

 

[Drgnfli]

So Can Birds

Yeah, but the government can't control the birds...

 

[ChrisOutdoors]

That was my point - your provocative use of the word "hysteria" in the thread title implied, at least to me, that you disagree with the laws that were being publicized at the event.

He's on point here OP, wth!?

I am a seasoned media professional in Pennsylvania

Aaaah, there you have it. Makes sense now, lol.