US National Parks - Fly Over okay?

[cjonesmn]

Can't seem to locate a clear answer to this...

I know the FAA restricts drones in National Parks, but the rule refers to "Launching, landing, or operating an unmanned aircraft from or on lands and waters administered by the National Park Service." If I launch my drone from outside the park, fly over a portion of that park, and then land it outside of the park have I violated that rule?

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

If I launch my drone from outside the park, fly over a portion of that park, and then land it outside of the park have I violated that rule?

Edit - FAA doesn't restrict airspace over National Parks, the parks people restrict flight from the ground on land under their authority.

" have I violated that rule?"
The general consensus is no, you haven't.
Why it's written like that, FAA are the only authority on airspace to restrict any flight above ground level.

Be aware though the FAA rule to keep a drone in VLOS, this means most flying over a National Park would be severely restricted.
It's very likely nothing worth filming would be within say 500m of any park boundary, or at least very few cases.

 

[AMann]

Personally, I wouldn’t do it. Even though you are technically correct that you may be able to fly over the park provided it does not have any FAA airspace restrictions, you can still be cited for having the drone disturb wildlife, cause a hazard for other people, or if it emergency lands in the park.

 

[AMann]

Edit - FAA doesn't restrict airspace over National Parks, the parks people restrict flight from the ground on land under their authority.

" have I violated that rule?"
The general consensus is no, you haven't.
Why it's written like that, FAA are the only authority on airspace to restrict any flight above ground level.

Be aware though the FAA rule to keep a drone in VLOS, this means most flying over a National Park would be severely restricted.
It's very likely nothing worth filming would be within say 500m of any park boundary, or at least very few cases.

the FAA does restrict airspace over National Parks - for example, look at the airspace restrictions over the Grand Canyon:

 

[cjonesmn]

the FAA does restrict airspace over National Parks - for example, look at the airspace restrictions over the Grand Canyon:

View attachment 93880

In my case, the area Im looking at is NOT restricted from an airspace perspective.

 

[cjonesmn]

It's very likely nothing worth filming would be within say 500m of any park boundary, or at least very few cases.

Thanks.. this is kind of a unique situation. I'm doing a real estate shoot for a home on a river bluff that overlooks a national park. The property is outside the park, but it borders the park.

 

[AMann]

Thanks.. this is kind of a unique situation. I'm doing a real estate shoot for a home on a river bluff that overlooks a national park. The property is outside the park, but it borders the park.

You should be ok. Be sure there are no eagle nests nearby!

 

[sar104]

the FAA does restrict airspace over National Parks - for example, look at the airspace restrictions over the Grand Canyon:

View attachment 93880

To be fair - that's the only National Park over which the FAA restricts airspace.

 

[Deleted member 114292]

the FAA does restrict airspace over National Parks - for example, look at the airspace restrictions over the Grand Canyon:

View attachment 93880

The FAA restricts flights over certain public attractions usually at the request of the attraction.
A good example is Disney World in Orlando there’s a permanent Tfr there.
No doubt at some point in time private pilots delighted in flying down Grand Canyon.

 

[JimWest]

The FAA restricts flights over certain public attractions usually at the request of the attraction.
A good example is Disney World in Orlando there’s a permanent Tfr there.
No doubt at some point in time private pilots delighted in flying down Grand Canyon.

Yes, there used to be so many sightseeing flights not just over the Canyon but into the Canyon that backpackers, river runners, and wildlife were all disturbed. Sightseeing flights were restricted some years ago to above the canyon rim and only in certain areas.

 

[theDRONEranger]

Did not this discussion come up several times in the past?

 

[AirShark]

That you ask the question shows you're a responsible pilot and we thank you. While the FAA does regulate airspace, localities do have laws in regards to disturbing wildlife, nesting areas, etc. I'd say caution, which I'm sure everyone on this site would endorse, would be to contact the authority of the land you wish to overfly.

 

[cjonesmn]

Did not this discussion come up several times in the past?

Not that I could find. I spent time searching, but most were related to specific areas of the country or specific shooting situations. I couldn't locate any that were more general in nature.

 

[AirShark]

@theDRONEranger Couldn't read your attachment. What was the diffinative answer?

 

[theDRONEranger]

@theDRONEranger Couldn't read your attachment. What was the diffinative answer?

Just showing there were numerous links already

 

[AirShark]

Did any of those links have an answer? Or more detailed guidance? Lagit question with ambiguous answers.

 

[theDRONEranger]

I believe they were discussed previously, feel free to explore. I have been fortunate enough to use the search function to find valid answers to various queries I‘ve had.

 

[AMann]

I believe they were discussed previously, feel free to explore. I have been fortunate enough to use the search function to find valid answers to various queries I‘ve had.

Its not always easy to get a good search hit, I’m good at it for work and still have to spend more time than it’s worth aometimes. Besides, new discussions about previous subjects may also add new updates about them. Posting links in answers like that is helpful too

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

I believe they were discussed previously

Of course, and answered definitively many (many) times.
As you subtly pointed out, a search is good to do, if you can't find something, or it's a bit dated, then waking up a suitable post is a good way to reduce the myriad of repeated subjects.

That said new people rarely know the forum and its tools like search, and search terms can be fairly wide ranging in results, so most of us bear with new posters in regards to this.

For the OP, as mentioned in general replies above, yes you can overfly pretty much all National Parks in the US, with exception to a no fly zone over the grand Canyon NP.
You can't take off or land from within the park boundary, not sure what you'd do if your drone crashed inside a park . . . I guess you wouldn't be operating it inside technically then and you could recover it on foot.

The property is outside the park, but it borders the park.

This would be totally ok, if doing a fly around over the boundary, while shooting towards the home, and probably taking some nice footage of the homes location near the park, some of the park surroundings etc, a nice part of the homes features / benefits.

One other thing to consider with wanting to fly over a NP in general, for more usual footage of park scenery . . . that thing mentioned in my reply at post #2.
What's the point of wanting to do such flight, when VLOS rule means you must be able to see your drone, and what is worth filming into the park at those fairly limited distances ?

 

[cjonesmn]

What's the point of wanting to do such flight, when VLOS rule means you must be able to see your drone, and what is worth filming into the park at those fairly limited distances ?

Well, I tried to answer this before, but basically the VLOS in this case is of no issue, because I have VLOS from one side of the park to the other. This NP is in a valley and I would be up on a bluff (outside of NP boundaries) overlooking that valley.