VIP TFR crashed my drone.

[Nobbler]

Flying my drone around my 1 acre pond for a while. Started to head back. Thing gets about 3 feet from the dock I took off from and and just. STOPS. Over the water.

Laughing at me. Mocking me.

Suddenly, I hear AUTHORIZATION ZONE. EXIT IMMEDIATELY. What. My home point just because verboten.

I look at the map and a 25 mile radius of the suburbs just turned into Area 51. It was so absurd I couldn't help but laugh. And here's my drone fenced in over a pond.

I tried for 60% battery to get that Drone to NOT want to commit suicide. I thought of running to grab my canoe and having it land on that. But by now I'm at 10% battery and running out of ideas.

Eventually I managed to scramble one sensor or another by flying low in S mode while I gunned it for the shore where I promptly crash landed in the mud.

Decided to read old threads on the forum. Someone mentioned a VIP visiting in a similar scenario. I head to the local paper and national sites.

Then it clicked.

The auth zone was called VIP.
POTUS is visiting Gwinnett, Georgia, where I live.

Then it really clicked.

CRASHED MY DRONE.


At least I have a cool new bumper sticker idea.


(I applied for a 3 year geo unlock but I don't think my app will go through because the credentials I attached were Picard facepalming.)

This post and thread title were edited by a moderator. This serves as an example of why you should check NOTAMS for your flight area before you take to the skies. There would have been advance notice of the TFR and the times it was effective. An important thing when you are flying a drone that relies on flight permissions from the manufacturer.

 

[brett8883]

Flying my drone around my 1 acre pond for a while. Started to head back. Thing gets about 3 feet from the dock I took off from and and just. STOPS. Over the water.

Laughing at me. Mocking me.

Suddenly, I hear AUTHORIZATION ZONE. EXIT IMMEDIATELY. What. My home point just because verboten.

I look at the map and a 25 mile radius of the suburbs just turned into Area 51. It was so absurd I couldn't help but laugh. And here's my drone fenced in over a pond.

I tried for 60% battery to get that Drone to NOT want to commit suicide. I thought of running to grab my canoe and having it land on that. But by now I'm at 10% battery and running out of ideas.

Eventually I managed to scramble one sensor or another by flying low in S mode while I gunned it for the shore where I promptly crash landed in the mud.

Decided to read old threads on the forum. Someone mentioned a VIP visiting in a similar scenario. I head to the local paper and national sites.

Then it clicked.

The auth zone was called VIP.
POTUS is visiting Gwinnett, Georgia, where I live.

Then it really clicked.

CRASHED MY DRONE.


At least I have a cool new bumper sticker idea.


(I applied for a 3 year geo unlock but I don't think my app will go through because the credentials I attached were Picard facepalming.)

This post and thread title were edited by a moderator. This serves as an example of why you should check NOTAMS for your flight area before you take to the skies. There would have been advance notice of the TFR and the times it was effective. An important thing when you are flying a drone that relies on flight permissions from the manufacturer.

Well hey look on the bright side at least you don’t have the secret service knocking on your door.

Gotta check for TFRs before flying

Glad you got it back

 

[Meta4]

Suddenly, I hear AUTHORIZATION ZONE. EXIT IMMEDIATELY. What. My home point just because verboten.

Did you launch without GPS and have the drone forced to autoland after GPS location data was acquired?
Or did you have the very bad luck to launch with GPS just before the TFR came into effect?
Your flight data would confirm which is the case.

I don't think any other country has such harsh restrictions on aviation whenever the country's leader/deputy comes to town.

 

[Kilrah]

Good choice is to fly with the phone in airplane mode so it's got no connection to magically learn about a TFR mid-flight.

 

[Nobbler]

First off, sorry about the title-- I was being ironic.

What I believe happened was, the GPS lacked the sensitivity where I launched-- I was right at the perimeter, yet gained it on the way back.

I'm pretty surprised at how large the VIP zone was and how it isn't even graduated in any way. Surely being 24 miles away from a VIP at 20 feet off the ground is less of a threat than 500 feet above him.

That, and, anyone who means anyone harm isn't going to rocking a Mavic Mini with GPS locked running DJI Fly

 

[Nobbler]

As far as NOTAMS goes--I have no pretentions about what I'm doing- flying a toy 75 feet off the ground over the pond in my subdivision. If I got into progear in a pro setting, you bet I would.

 

[DoomMeister]

As far as NOTAMS goes--I have no pretentions about what I'm doing- flying a toy 75 feet off the ground over the pond in my subdivision. If I got into progear in a pro setting, you bet I would.

I edited the post so others could learn from this! Your opinion on this matter is part of the reason for the TFR being the size that it is and extending from the ground to FL180. The NAS and VIP TFR’s are no joke, and those that feel they can ignore them just because they are recreational fliers send my temper to high heat in a flash.

I am a recreational pilot myself, but I realize how important it is to know and understand our part of the regs for the NAS as well as regs for pilots of manned aircraft I may encounter. Hopefully the knowledge test for recreational pilots will become enough of an educational tool that more become responsible fliers.

 

[brett8883]

As far as NOTAMS goes--I have no pretentions about what I'm doing- flying a toy 75 feet off the ground over the pond in my subdivision. If I got into progear in a pro setting, you bet I would.

They really do care about those TFRs and they will arrest you if you break them. Just last week there was a story of two guys who were arrested for breaking the Super Bowl TFR.

 

[Deleted member 137163]

I edited the post so others could learn from this! Your opinion on this matter is part of the reason for the TFR being the size that it is and extending from the ground to FL180. The NAS and VIP TFR’s are no joke, and those that feel they can ignore them just because they are recreational fliers send my temper to high heat in a flash.

I am a recreational pilot myself, but I realize how important it is to know and understand our part of the regs for the NAS as well as regs for pilots of manned aircraft I may encounter. Hopefully the knowledge test for recreational pilots will become enough of an educational tool that more become responsible fliers.

As a manned pilot and flight instructor I teach not only a full weather briefing but a check of TFRs and NOTAMS. It takes a minute to check TFRs and it is serious. You can love them or hate them but DO NOT screw with them. Call me crazy but I have a checklist (again, the manned pilot background tells me it is a great idea) for all phases of the pre-flight, flight and post flight procedures. Weather, Notams and TFRs are at the top of "before leaving home checks".

 

[neggy]

I get email notifications from the FAA all the time, days in advance of the TFR going active.

When they are listed as VIP you can be pretty damned sure it is POTUS of VPOTUS movement, and as the fellow NH'ite above me posted, the Secret Service and FAA take a really dim view of having that airspace violated.... and I would venture they have the DJI supplied equipment that ID's any drone in the area they are monitoring... yes DJI has a device that will ID any drone SN in the deployed area

Read up on it here:

Aeroscope - DJI

DJI AeroScope is able to identify the vast majority of popular drones on the market today by monitoring and analyzing their electronic signals to gain critical information, allowing users to protect the integrity of their flight-sensitive environment.

www.dji.com

 

[Maviac]

How did you not know about this? Not only has it been the top story on the local Atlanta news for a few days, but I’ve gotten many emails from the FAA and AOPA about it. Someone wanted me to shoot a scene yesterday and I said “nope. Will have to wait until Friday.”

 

[Rich QR]

As far as NOTAMS goes--I have no pretentions about what I'm doing- flying a toy 75 feet off the ground over the pond in my subdivision. If I got into progear in a pro setting, you bet I would.

Well, if that's your choice, you've got to accept the consequences. A crashed drone is among the cheapest and least intrusive consequences you may get for deliberately choosing to ignore a TFR.

 

[Meta4]

I would venture they have the DJI supplied equipment that ID's any drone in the area they are monitoring... yes DJI has a device that will ID any drone SN in the deployed area

They would need a lot of personnel and Aeroscope units to scan the 3744 square miles that a 30 NM radius circle covers.
It's a huge area and shuts down a lot of aerial activity beyond just drone flyers.

C. The following operations are not authorized within this TFR: flight training, practice instrument approaches, aerobatic flight, glider operations, seaplane operations, parachute operations, ultralight, hang gliding, balloon operations, agriculture/crop dusting, animal population control flight operations, banner towing operations, sightseeing operations, maintenance test flights, model aircraft operations, model rocketry, unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), and utility and pipeline survey operations.

 

[011111110]

Rules and regulations aside, I'm still not okay with the drone's behavior in this situation. Yes, the pilot made an error by not checking for TFRs before takeoff. I get it. But the drone should never deliberately take control away from the pilot. Not ever. Issue a warning message, tell the pilot they need to land immediately, but then let the pilot do that. In this case, the drone hovered there for 20 minutes while he tried to figure out how to land it safely - without that "feature", he could have been safely on the ground 30 seconds after seeing the warning. The "feature" caused him to violate the TFR for 20 minutes longer than necessary. Put the responsibility on the pilot, not the drone.

I can live with the drone not allowing takeoff in an authorization zone, but once it's in the air, the pilot needs to be able to control it, always.

Would you buy a car that won't let you exceed the speed limit under any circumstances?

That said, POTUS is in my area almost every weekend now, and it's getting annoying.

 

[tlswift58]

Flying my drone around my 1 acre pond for a while. Started to head back. Thing gets about 3 feet from the dock I took off from and and just. STOPS. Over the water.

Laughing at me. Mocking me.

Suddenly, I hear AUTHORIZATION ZONE. EXIT IMMEDIATELY. What. My home point just because verboten.

I look at the map and a 25 mile radius of the suburbs just turned into Area 51. It was so absurd I couldn't help but laugh. And here's my drone fenced in over a pond.

I tried for 60% battery to get that Drone to NOT want to commit suicide. I thought of running to grab my canoe and having it land on that. But by now I'm at 10% battery and running out of ideas.

Eventually I managed to scramble one sensor or another by flying low in S mode while I gunned it for the shore where I promptly crash landed in the mud.

Decided to read old threads on the forum. Someone mentioned a VIP visiting in a similar scenario. I head to the local paper and national sites.

Then it clicked.

The auth zone was called VIP.
POTUS is visiting Gwinnett, Georgia, where I live.

Then it really clicked.

CRASHED MY DRONE.


At least I have a cool new bumper sticker idea.


(I applied for a 3 year geo unlock but I don't think my app will go through because the credentials I attached were Picard facepalming.)

This post and thread title were edited by a moderator. This serves as an example of why you should check NOTAMS for your flight area before you take to the skies. There would have been advance notice of the TFR and the times it was effective. An important thing when you are flying a drone that relies on flight permissions from the manufacturer.

We get area wide NOTAMS on occasion when the "military" fly over the mountains of WNC, Upstate SC, and N GA. Blankets the whole area. They typically are flying at night, but the NOTAM covers almost 24 hours for 2-3 days straight.

 

[brett8883]

Rules and regulations aside, I'm still not okay with the drone's behavior in this situation. Yes, the pilot made an error by not checking for TFRs before takeoff. I get it. But the drone should never deliberately take control away from the pilot. Not ever. Issue a warning message, tell the pilot they need to land immediately, but then let the pilot do that. In this case, the drone hovered there for 20 minutes while he tried to figure out how to land it safely - without that "feature", he could have been safely on the ground 30 seconds after seeing the warning. The "feature" caused him to violate the TFR for 20 minutes longer than necessary. Put the responsibility on the pilot, not the drone.

I can live with the drone not allowing takeoff in an authorization zone, but once it's in the air, the pilot needs to be able to control it, always.

Would you buy a car that won't let you exceed the speed limit under any circumstances?

I agree there. It does make me uncomfortable knowing this can happen. I’ve had a situation where something went haywire and suddenly the drone thought it was in an NFZ when it wasn’t.

I think the alarms and warning messages would be great, provided there is a way to turn them off if you have authorization, but just taking control from the pilot mid flight is not a good solution. Could be dangerous.

 

[tlswift58]

As far as NOTAMS goes--I have no pretentions about what I'm doing- flying a toy 75 feet off the ground over the pond in my subdivision. If I got into progear in a pro setting, you bet I would.

Drone are not toys. As you hopefully learn here - many, if not most / all of us use apps like KittyHawk to at least know what is going on where we fly. Yes, there is a learning curve as a Rec Flyer - but the FAA has rules that cover us all - no matter if you are on your own property / subdivision / etc.

 

[RkyMtnHigh]

I edited the post so others could learn from this! Your opinion on this matter is part of the reason for the TFR being the size that it is and extending from the ground to FL180. The NAS and VIP TFR’s are no joke, and those that feel they can ignore them just because they are recreational fliers send my temper to high heat in a flash.

I am a recreational pilot myself, but I realize how important it is to know and understand our part of the regs for the NAS as well as regs for pilots of manned aircraft I may encounter. Hopefully the knowledge test for recreational pilots will become enough of an educational tool that more become responsible fliers.

As a retired air traffic controller and ATC Operations Supervisor I can say from first hand experience that TFR's are strictly regulated and monitored, especially VIP TFR's. I understand that many people may not understand them or may think that the TFR doesn't apply to them, but those are the ones that need to educate themselves a bit. If you have any doubt whether to fly or not, don't. Stay on the ground. It's not worth it, especially if it's a VIP TFR. The last thing you'd want is for a black SUV to be pulling up to your house with men in suits and sunglasses knocking on your door.

 

[Nobbler]

Once I transition from my backyard and break the southern yellow pine canopy of my house I'll also transition from the word toy. That said, I appreciate everyone for educating me and appreciate the confirmation that taking control away from a pilot who is literally feet away from his home point is just ridiculous.

Point being: you shouldn't be able to OTA set a snare for drones that destroys them. Imagine!

 

[Thomas B]

Once I transition from my backyard and break the southern yellow pine canopy of my house I'll also transition from the word toy. That said, I appreciate everyone for educating me and appreciate the confirmation that taking control away from a pilot who is literally feet away from his home point is just ridiculous.

Point being: you shouldn't be able to OTA set a snare for drones that destroys them. Imagine!

List of NOTAMS is available on the FAA site. Might avoid future problems