Someone got a letter from the FAA

[mavic3usa]

Not me but this is what it looks like. You can go over to r/ if you want to read all about the details and the drama. Hard to tell what this is really about whether it's the flying over people or flying during a parade or flying during a TFR maybe?

Also can't tell if this is reported by a snitch or RID was used or aeroscope but using the database, they found him! Oh and they knew he was flying a DJI drone. Either way he has some explaining to do and folks, please never forget: follow the rules because there are people watching and waiting for you to make a mistake.

If not having a remote pilot certificate means operating without a part 107 license then this could get expensive (in addition to the education, of course). Curious to know the outcome. Discuss.




P.S. I believe these things are public records and easily discovered with a FOIA request.

 

[Vic Moss]

Can't fix stupid...

BTW, as someone who is on the other side of this issue at times, you're always better off contacting the FAA when they reach out to you under circumstances like this. Don't ignore them. Ask Philly Mike what happens when you ignore the FAA.

 

[anotherlab]

If you want to read the story behind that letter, it was posted as "The FAA sent me a letter today". The recipient was flying at a music festival and flying over people, by his own admission.

 

[SethB]

I remember people saying Philly Mike was only charged because of his public video on YouTube, and many other similar posts here.

I think this letter should inform those who have speculated that “the FAA doesn’t have staff for enforcement” that the agency does indeed have an active monitoring and enforcement system.

The reddit discussion includes a couple cases of potential airspace and operating violations.

It seems the FAA is ramping up.

 

[MS Coast]

It seems the FAA is ramping up.

One case hardly indicates a significant change.

 

[MS Coast]

Hard to tell what this is really about whether it's the flying over people or flying during a parade or flying during a TFR maybe?

It's not difficult at all. Read the letter. Altitude over 400' AGL, flying over a large public gathering.

Also can't tell if this is reported by a snitch or RID was used or aeroscope but using the database, they found him! Oh and they knew he was flying a DJI drone.

Do you know that the drone was registered? Anyone reckless enough to fly over a music festival might not have registered it. The FAA may have identified the fellow by providing the serial number to DJI.

 

[SethB]

One case hardly indicates a significant change.

Two different FAA letters in the reddit thread, from two different FSDOs, on two different events. I’ll speculate that might mean many more that we haven’t heard about. Maybe.

It takes a long time for a federal agency to clarify policy, design and roll out training, get aviation safety staff at FSDOs trained, and actually move into enforcement, while developing understanding and mutual support with local law enforcement.

It should not be a surprise to anyone that FAA has been working on this and we’re starting to see the results.

 

[Starz]

Interesting. Two different letters from two different FSDO’s…………..
Out of how many hundreds of thousands of flying cameras being utilized in this country. Sorry, I’ll go along with post number 5.

 

[MS Coast]

Two different FAA letters in the reddit thread, from two different FSDOs, on two different events. I’ll speculate that might mean many more that we haven’t heard about. Maybe.

It takes a long time for a federal agency to clarify policy, design and roll out training, get aviation safety staff at FSDOs trained, and actually move into enforcement, while developing understanding and mutual support with local law enforcement.

It should not be a surprise to anyone that FAA has been working on this and we’re starting to see the results.

Two cases hardly indicate a significant change.

The FAA may be increasing enforcement efforts related to drones, but even a dozen letters in a week or two in a population of tens of thousands of flights per day don't show it.

 

[mavic3usa]

I agree with people like Eddie; people like me who are adept at seeing the handwriting on the wall and recognizing the trends and going with what we know....the ability to see bad things that are coming our way *before* they smack you over the head. I've been hearing it for years: nothing will happen, you're just paranoid...and look where we are.

Folks like Eddie and I we don't pour over records and read thru a bunch of files and try to wade thru the historical facts to see if anybody else has ever been jammed up or not. That nonsense means nothing...in 2024. Put your ear to the ground, open your eyes, learn to read the room. I don't necessarily agree this is the end of the hobby but I do agree it's going to get worse before it gets better and will soon be the "end of the hobby as we know it." Soon, gone will be the days where you could just walk outside and with a little bit of care and safety and some common sense, go fly your drone and call it a day; now you'll need to *be careful* because the rules will have set us up to fail. Start at 9:30 if you care to hear what Eddie has to say:

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[anotherlab]

....Folks like Eddie and I we don't pour over records and read thru a bunch of files and try to wade thru the historical facts to see if anybody else has ever been jammed up or not. That nonsense means nothing...in 2024. ...

Pouring over records and checking historical precedent does help to see if a trend is developing.

"Let me do my own research" only works if you do the research.

 

[mavic3usa]

Pouring over records and checking historical precedent does help to see if a trend is developing.

"Let me do my own research" only works if you do the research.

Not saying it doesn't help at all but to put it into context, I added "...in 2024" meaning there's a new world we live in and it's time to think outside the box and it's time to go with what works today rather than rely on the old methods that may have worked in the past. For example, trying to figure out how trade wars between countries in the 80s developed won't help us on this one. Or, looking back to see what else has been banned before like alcohol or cigarettes....c'mon. Time to face the facts, we have a big big problem. It no longer takes a decade for legislation to develop and another decade for the public to hear about it.

 

[SethB]

Two cases hardly indicate a significant change.

The FAA may be increasing enforcement efforts related to drones, but even a dozen letters in a week or two in a population of tens of thousands of flights per day don't show it.

Tedious. Of course the truth is I don’t know, the discussion of possible trends is speculative.

For myself, I like to see which way the wind is blowing. From minor enforcement “never happens” to “sometimes happens” seems significant to me. This is only my opinion.

I don’t mean to be a doomsayer - FAA won’t catch me flying in restricted airspace without LAANC authorization, or operating over people, or over 400’ AGL, or flying without the appropriate certification because I don’t fly that way.

I think people come to this forum to learn and share, and I hope those who have missed learning the basic requirements and regs do learn and do clean up their flying.

I think it is remarkable that we’ve learned of two such letters from FSDO Aviation Safety to potential infringers *this month*! Those are the facts, interpret as you will.

Perhaps someone familiar with it could point out the last time one of these letters was reported on in this forum?

 

[anotherlab]

Not saying it doesn't help at all but to put it into context, I added "...in 2024" meaning there's a new world we live in and it's time to think outside the box and it's time to go with what works today rather than rely on the old methods that may have worked in the past. For example, trying to figure out how trade wars between countries in the 80s developed won't help us on this one. Or, looking back to see what else has been banned before like alcohol or cigarettes....c'mon. Time to face the facts, we have a big big problem. It no longer takes a decade for legislation to develop and another decade for the public to hear about it.

You don't have to go back a decade or more.

Look at the sanctions against Huawei. That timeline shows a series of actions like what has been happening with DJI. The law that prevented Huawei from obtaining new FCC licenses was signed in November 2021.

Comparing the sanctions against those companies and the ones on alcohol and tobacco doesn't hold up. Correlation does not mean causation.

 

[mavic3usa]

You don't have to go back a decade or more.

Look at the sanctions against Huawei. That timeline shows a series of actions like what has been happening with DJI. The law that prevented Huawei from obtaining new FCC licenses was signed in November 2021.

Comparing the sanctions against those companies and the ones on alcohol and tobacco doesn't hold up. Correlation does not mean causation.

Anyone who compares what happened to Huawei to what is currently happening to DJI is fooling themselves.

 

[MS Coast]

Tedious. Of course the truth is I don’t know, the discussion of possible trends is speculative.

For myself, I like to see which way the wind is blowing. From minor enforcement “never happens” to “sometimes happens” seems significant to me. This is only my opinion.

I don’t mean to be a doomsayer - FAA won’t catch me flying in restricted airspace without LAANC authorization, or operating over people, or over 400’ AGL, or flying without the appropriate certification because I don’t fly that way.

I think people come to this forum to learn and share, and I hope those who have missed learning the basic requirements and regs do learn and do clean up their flying.

I think it is remarkable that we’ve learned of two such letters from FSDO Aviation Safety to potential infringers *this month*! Those are the facts, interpret as you will.

Perhaps someone familiar with it could point out the last time one of these letters was reported on in this forum?

In another discussion, someone claimed that there was a substantial increase in shark populations in the Gulf of Mexico. They based the conclusion on the two shark attacks that occurred in Florida on the same day early this month.

In fact, shark populations have declined by about 70% in the last 30 years. Two attacks are not statistically significant, though they are significant to the people invovled.

 

[anotherlab]

Anyone who compares what happened to Huawei to what is currently happening to DJI is fooling themselves.

Fooling themselves In what way?

The US government claimed that Huawei is beholden to the Chinese government and could use its presence in US telecommunications networks to spy on Americans. After ramping up the sanctions, the US blocked Huawei from obtaining any new FCC licenses. Huawei was effectively barred from the US market.

 

[mavic3usa]

Fooling themselves In what way?

The US government claimed that Huawei is beholden to the Chinese government and could use its presence in US telecommunications networks to spy on Americans. After ramping up the sanctions, the US blocked Huawei from obtaining any new FCC licenses. Huawei was effectively barred from the US market.

Let's wait and see if the President signs a ban.

 

[anotherlab]

Let's wait and see if the President signs a ban.

DJI sanctions attached to the NDAA FY25 with bi-partisan support, we are in an election year, the President signed a bill banning TikTok if the parent company doesn't sell it off, and the President raised the tariffs on Chinese products like EVs.

You can't predict the future, but from a political standpoint he has every reason to sign and none to veto. His past behavior strongly suggests he'll sign an NDAA bill with the DJI sanctions.

I hope the DJI sanctions are not included in the merged NDAA, but has anyone in the Senate stood up to say "This is a bad idea, let's try something else"?

 

[MS Coast]

Let's wait and see if the President signs a ban.

He can't sign it until the Senate passes it.

Since the drone bill is incorporated into the National Defense Authorization Act, which includes funding for the military, it's highly unlikely that the President would veto it after passage by the House and Senate.