Enforcement Responsibilities ?

[R Martin]

Just curious what the general consensus is toward reporting unauthorized (illegal?) drone operations.

I work for large university. From time to time I see companies operating their UAS with no registration number on the aircraft and above or near pedestrians. In each instance this has been in class C airspace.

Just kind of bothers me that people disregard regs and pose a threat to the safety of others, when the rest of us have taken the time and effort to do things according to Hoyle.

Seems pointless to approach them unless any illegal or unauthorized activity will be reported to the FAA. Otherwise it would just end up in a pissing contest and our PR department would probably complain to management (i.e. I get termed)

Report them to campus PD. Ours take the incidents seriously and will dispatch a unit to check into your complaint. If they determine that a violation has in fact occurred, then they know (or should know by now) what is required.

 

[adm_geomatics]

The reg concerning flight directly over people does not have an altitude limit or definition. Lacking one, there is no defined vertical separation that would allow flight over people at any altitude. The higher the drone the more difficult is is to determine if the drone is or is not over a person. More difficult for you and anyone observing you. Lacking clear definition it is likely an outside observer would claim you were flying over people even if you were not. Using a common conflict of interest rule, it’s always better to avoid the appearance of a conflict even if none actually occurs.

We operate in an area of law where we are not innocent until proven guilty. Every FAA violation requires the pilot establish their innocence instead of someone having to prove they are guilty. It’s best to avoid being charged with a violation. Doing that requires we are conservative in our operations, not operating to the edges of legal allowance.

Thank you for that. I went back and looked at the regs and it's not us, but helicopters that are 50ft from people.structures. I also see no definition of proximity. Personally I try to plan my "lawnmower" flight patterns so that they are on property lines either side of an active road and particularly in construction when there are workers without cover present. One exclusion that I see trying to be passed is that construction site are considered closed to public and workers are required to wear PPE so we might lose the flight over people in those situations regulation.

 

[R Martin]

Thank you for that. I went back and looked at the regs and it's not us, but helicopters that are 50ft from people.structures. I also see no definition of proximity. Personally I try to plan my "lawnmower" flight patterns so that they are on property lines either side of an active road and particularly in construction when there are workers without cover present. One exclusion that I see trying to be passed is that construction site are considered closed to public and workers are required to wear PPE so we might lose the flight over people in those situations regulation.

Even on construction sites they are still people and you are not supposed to operate over them. I work with the GC and do a quick brief at the daily safety meeting they have for all hands, inform them of a flight that day, and require them to be either under cover or leave the site for lunch. I have yet to have an issue. The GC gets free site updates as a benefit of their cooperation.
A lot of people see the rules as gray and try to imagine loopholes to get around the regs. Take them at face value as a black and white constant. Then work with the client and involved parties to come up with a solution that everyone can live with and you can obey the regs to the letter. You'll find that most people are understanding and they certainly don't want the FAA and OSHA poking their noses into their job site because of something careless. The fines and troubles you face pale in comparison to what a general contractor faces if OSHA goes through their operation with a fine toothed comb.

 

[adm_geomatics]

Exactly. I am an employee of a GC and (1) Our workers know that we have drones on site and know our drone operator vehicles, (2) We always check in with the site supervisors before and after and (3) Fly at 10am, 12pm and 3:30pm as those are break and lunch times. We fly all of our missions with careful planning of our driving routes and what sites are in proximity of those routes, but also plan around those times and plan non-populated missions in times outside of those. Good for any non-construction pilot to follow.