Those living in and around fire zones were also told to stop using drones to capture the scene.
- Thread starter Dronecation
- Start date
If not the fire fighting team, who were you saying had an interest in keeping drone pilots from finding evidence or arson or other crimes? The FAA?
People ABSOLUTELY need to report drones near a wildfire. As a firefighter who may have their life dependent on aerial firefighting, which is called off if a drone is seen, I ABSOLUTELY APPLAUD a member of the public reporting a drone within an emergency area - including road accidents too, where a helicopter could also get called off.
I guess the question is whether or not there was an aerial firefighting being done. If not, is it okay then?
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A few years ago near home we were within a couple of km of a really unusually close bushfire coming up the western hills face in bush terrain, fanned by a good strong breeze.
This is the first fire like this I've seen so near in the nearly 40 years living here.
We were looking across a large valley to the peak of a range this fire was headed to.
The smoke was mostly visible to us, it was thick and like a black / brown blanket, masses of it and no visibility inside or around that.
We could see ground crews on roads in front of the fire, but they couldn't access the ground it was burning on, nor would that have been safe in any way for ground crews.
Soon there were 3 small winged firebombers there flying line astern very low coming up behind the fire front, dropping water and flying off to a local strip for refilling, back again there was about 15 mins between them, went on for 2 - 3 hours.
There was also a heli very high, obviously a fire command crew giving orders to the waterbombers.
They worked very efficiently and the threat was averted thankfully without property losses in the path.
How's a drone pilot to know if an air reconnaissance has been requested, or if ground crews have asked for firebombing ?
I live a few miles from a major trauma hospital. Helicopters are constantly delivering patients, all day and night. Am I expected to just never fly because a helicopter pilot might be nervous about my drone nearby? I can even get LAANC approval to 50 feet in the shadow of the hospital, should that whole area be a no fly zone?
How far should be considered enough separation?
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That's possibly ok in the US, as it is in Australia.
The rule here for any uncontrolled airport or heliport is 'land if you become aware of any aircraft operating in your airspace' or to that effect.
This includes hospital helipads.
Uncontrolled airports here you can even fly right by them . . .
You may operate your drone within 5.5 km of a non-controlled airport or helicopter landing site if:
- there are no crewed aircraft flying in the area
- you see any crewed aircraft flying to or from the airport or helicopter landing site you land as soon as safely possible
- you stay outside the airfield boundary
Not 100% sure, but I think sub 250g you can fly right up to controlled airport airspace !
Yep, just checked . . .
If your drone weighs 250 g or less, you can fly within 5.5 km (3 NM) from a point along a runway centreline (the measurement point). You must not:
- fly over the movement area
- fly over or in the departure or approach path
- create a collision hazard to other aircraft taking off or landing.
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Specifically for bushfires and other emergency situations, our rules . . .
Using your drone to film or see a fire front might be tempting, doing so could hamper emergency services and break the drone safety rules.
If you fly – other firefighting and rescue aircraft can't.
For your safety and others, do not fly your drone during:
Almost sure it's same in North America, US and Canada.
Flying near emergencies
You must not fly your drone during emergency operations. Flying your drone near emergencies can cause major safety hazards to response teams in the air and on the ground.Using your drone to film or see a fire front might be tempting, doing so could hamper emergency services and break the drone safety rules.
If you fly – other firefighting and rescue aircraft can't.
For your safety and others, do not fly your drone during:
- natural disasters – bushfires, floods, electrical storms, hurricanes and cyclones
- emergency operations – traffic accidents, tactical response, training or rescue operations.
Almost sure it's same in North America, US and Canada.
No, it’s not - the planes and helicopters come low and fast. You won’t know they’re there until they’re on top of you. For example, a year ago we had a fire near where I live, at one stage 16 aircraft were assigned, including two Boeing 747s, which were doing nearly 1000km round trips to dump water at about $20,000 per water dump. They came in low and you KNEW when they arrived… but not long before! To call these guys off would’ve been potentially disastrous! Because the planes do huge trips at times, the sky might seem “all clear”… until it’s not!
So if they see a big bird in the area are they gonna ground all aircraft?
Nope it’ll likely do less damage (still some), plus it’s a known and unavoidable risk. A drone is a controllable risk: hence they are cleared out by law. In Australia at least, roads will be closed too. You are not able to enter certain emergency areas, even if you live there, once you leave. Hence for drones, unless you live there and have not left, you won’t be allowed anywhere where you can fly visually (the exclusion area could be 50km or more across).
Here’s a fire advanced on my place. When it was in the yellow zone I could come and go, once orange then red, it’s “stay and fight or leave and don’t come back”. The fire didn’t come near due to a lucky wind change and water bombers.
I am unsure where the edge of “drone flying” would be, but likely the yellow “watch and act” declared area (emergency.wa.gov.au).
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If they could really control drones, why don't they just ground them? The point is you have to fight the fire even if there is risk to yourself.
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Maybe there should be a 'Suspend Account' button. Make it so that if enough people click it, bye-bye for 3 to 5 days... heck a week, why not?
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With some of the comments here, it appears that some have little to no value for human lives.
Or maybe they are just completely unaware of how forest fires are fought? Do they think a drone would be harmless because a bunch of firemen are simply going to drive their fire truck through the forest blasting water, and that is how these fires are fought?
Or maybe they are just completely unaware of how forest fires are fought? Do they think a drone would be harmless because a bunch of firemen are simply going to drive their fire truck through the forest blasting water, and that is how these fires are fought?
It's called the REPORT button.
From our Community Rules page:
General Rules
We aim to ensure that the community is an enjoyable place that people want to visit repeatedly. The MavicPilots community should be a virtual reflection of how we all hope the community of Mavic drone enthusiasts would act in the real world. Treat each other with respect just as you would if you were meeting in person for coffee before enjoying a day of flying together in shared airspace. This is a community of friends and partners who are collaborating to encourage and support a growing Mavic community. When you see bad behavior, please don’t reply as It encourages the bad behavior by acknowledging it, consumes your energy, and wastes everyone’s time. Just report it and we will review it and take appropriate action.
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This community is largely self-policing, which means that moderators will respond and react to problems reported.
With all due respect, and our patience is wearing very thin with you on this matter, you are clueless about how Dangerous true Wildfire Fighting really is. The aircraft, if needed, are operating at the extreme edge of their flight envelope and the Air Crew are operating in an intense Situational Overload situation. The aircraft could be at near Max Weight, Flying LOW, Flying SLOW, and any evasive maneuver could push the aircraft beyond it's operating envelope...this means potentially losing control/lift and crashing into the ground. Impact with Terra Firma usually means loss of all LIFE aboard the aircraft. It's not a trivial matter in the least.
With Aviation, and this includes our hobby/industry, we go out of our way to Reduce Risk to the best of our ability. This concept is sadly lost with many who are posting in this very thread I'm afraid.
The mere fact that they should have to even think about "UAS" in this situation is 100% absurd and reckless as can be. Total disregard for everyone else but your own wants/needs is 100% unacceptable. Do you want to be the reason an Aircraft goes down and none of those HEROS are going home to their families? Is that really OK with you and your short sighted thought processes?
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