Trouble with FAA and Police

zachschul22 · Sep 8, 2018

Opinions Requested
Today I few a drone on a road neighboring an airport. I call the ATC before I flew and they took down my info, license info and max altitude of 200ft. They didn't say no or give any warning not to fly. So when I landed it, the police started yelling at me and threaten to arrest me and I said the ATC said it was ok, no issues. The police took down my info.
I call the ATC and they said I violated the rules of flying near an airport, when I initially said I called and said the road was next to the airport. I'm left confused and nervous because the ATC said they are going to report me to the FAA.
What are my options and what can I do.
I was flying a Mavic Pro with a part 107 license.
They said I did not give way to planes taking off even though I was very low when I saw planes taking off. These are small single engine planes BTW.
If you need any more info let me know. I'm freaking out a little.

Josiah · Sep 8, 2018

Did you tell them that you called them?

Z06Aggie · Sep 8, 2018

zachschul22 said:
They didn't say no or give any warning not to fly.

So what exactly did they say when you gave them your info and told them what you were doing?

Josiah · Sep 8, 2018

*the police* *the ATC*

zachschul22 · Sep 8, 2018

Josiah said:
Did you tell them that you called them?

Yes I did. They then said I violated FAA rules even though I called and they said it's fine.

zachschul22 · Sep 8, 2018

Z06Aggie said:
So what exactly did they say when you gave them your info and told them what you were doing?

All they did was take down my info and said I was good to go. I said I was on the neighboring street next to the airport.

zachschul22 · Sep 8, 2018

Josiah said:
*the police* *the ATC*

What do you mean by that?

Irish-apple · Sep 8, 2018

.. Me. I wouldnt be flying near an airport.

...Me I would of gotten written permission signed / dated and checked and recorded call.

...Me. I wouldnt be flying near an airport.

zachschul22 · Sep 8, 2018

Irish-apple said:
.. Me. I wouldnt be flying near an airport.

...Me I would of gotten written permission signed / dated and checked and recorded call.

...Me. I wouldnt be flying near an airport.

I know, lesson learned to never fly near an airport. I got authorization but I guess that still wasn't enough for police or the ATC. I never heard of a written document for an ATC authorization.

Aerial-Pixel · Sep 8, 2018

Was this Class G airspace?

dbrockman2 · Sep 8, 2018

What was the airport?

Josiah · Sep 8, 2018

zachschul22 said:
What do you mean by that?

Sorry cause I said them and them.. not sure if you would know what I meant

53-63-6f-74-74 · Sep 8, 2018

ATC doesn't and cannot grant waivers for airspace, the FAA does. What airspace were you flying in? That matters a lot yet you didn't say. Was it a hobby flight or commercial? As a 107 certificate holder your flight can be either hobby OR commercial. Both have different requirements for flight.

scumface · Sep 8, 2018

53-63-6f-74-74 said:
ATC doesn't and cannot grant waivers for airspace, the FAA does. What airspace were you flying in? That matters a lot yet you didn't say. Was it a hobby flight or commercial? As a 107 certificate holder your flight can be either hobby OR commercial. Both have different requirements for flight.

Flying by an airport!! Really!

texasgrape · Sep 8, 2018

scumface said:
Flying by an airport!! Really!

In many cases there is nothing wrong with flying by an airport; He has his Airman Certificate (license) and depending on the airspace he's in and whether or not he's flying commercial or hobby he might not have even had to notify the ATC--not enough info for any of us to pass judgment or to say yay or nay!

And you don't need an FAA waiver if you are flying by the rules; waivers are for not following the rules--And in many cases you don't even need ATC's permission and in some cases you only need to notify them--again--depends on the airspace/airport/commercial/hobby/etc--Also you don' t need written permission to just routinely fly your drone--you just need to notify--and his call log on his phone proves it--OP needs to give us much more info; Personally I would never fly adjacent to an airport because this is exactly what happens in many cases--people are uneducated on drone rules just as we all were at one time;

OP: Why did you notify ATC? Were you flying commercially or as a hobby? (It matters) What airspace were you in? Or what was the airport? If you can't answer all those questions we can't help you--

ac0j · Sep 8, 2018

How did a DJI product even leave the ground that close to an airport?

zachschul22 · Sep 9, 2018

texasgrape said:
In many cases there is nothing wrong with flying by an airport; He has his Airman Certificate (license) and depending on the airspace he's in and whether or not he's flying commercial or hobby he might not have even had to notify the ATC--not enough info for any of us to pass judgment or to say yay or nay!

And you don't need an FAA waiver if you are flying by the rules; waivers are for not following the rules--And in many cases you don't even need ATC's permission and in some cases you only need to notify them--again--depends on the airspace/airport/commercial/hobby/etc--Also you don' t need written permission to just routinely fly your drone--you just need to notify--and his call log on his phone proves it--OP needs to give us much more info; Personally I would never fly adjacent to an airport because this is exactly what happens in many cases--people are uneducated on drone rules just as we all were at one time;

OP: Why did you notify ATC? Were you flying commercially or as a hobby? (It matters) What airspace were you in? Or what was the airport? If you can't answer all those questions we can't help you--

In AirMap it said to notify Atc so I did.
I did not check which airspace I was in. Just followed airmap and I was below 140 ft.
Orange County Airport in NY.
I have a part 107 flying under hobby.