- Joined
- Jan 24, 2020
- Messages
- 21
- Reaction score
- 9
- Age
- 37
- Location
- Brooklyn, NY
- Website
- www.atmosphericarts.com
I recently had a customer request some images of Philadelphia's City Hall (located in the dense city-center). I believe I did my due diligence in checking airspace (no restrictions) and filling out a form on the City of Philadelphia website (Commercial sUAS (Part 107) Flight Notification Form - Veoci (Public Form)) to allegedly notify their Emergency Services of a flight. My flight near city hall was going to consist of taking off from a nearby park, flying directly up to 400' (nobody below the drone at any point) and taking some pics, so I'm quite sure this wasn't breaking any FAA rules.
When I got to the location near City Hall, I noticed some police officers in the park. I didn't want anybody interfering with the flight once it was started, so I figured the right thing to do was to politely tell the cops that I already notified Emergency Services via the form (didn't have anybody reaching out to tell me that the location I requested wasn't ok) and I just wanted to make them aware/comfortable that I'd be conducting a FAA-compliant flight. Naturally they immediately told me that nobody is allowed to fly drones in that district, and I'd have to call their supervisor despite me telling them about the form. I immediately called the supervisor, who naturally also told me that I can't do it without permission from the city (despite me also telling him I did just that via the form). I got a strong vibe that the police officers and supervisor just didn't want to deal with me or check on my permissions. I ended up not being able to get the pictures from anywhere close to where the client requested. What kills me is that there's a strong chance I could have just conducted the three-minute mission without telling the officers and had no issues (or taken off from outside of their district and flown into their district).
I happen to live in NYC, which is one of the most drone-unfriendly places in the country, and stuff like this is a constant worry of mine as the drone laws here are very much in the gray area (don't get me started on drones and NYC...).
My questions:
When I got to the location near City Hall, I noticed some police officers in the park. I didn't want anybody interfering with the flight once it was started, so I figured the right thing to do was to politely tell the cops that I already notified Emergency Services via the form (didn't have anybody reaching out to tell me that the location I requested wasn't ok) and I just wanted to make them aware/comfortable that I'd be conducting a FAA-compliant flight. Naturally they immediately told me that nobody is allowed to fly drones in that district, and I'd have to call their supervisor despite me telling them about the form. I immediately called the supervisor, who naturally also told me that I can't do it without permission from the city (despite me also telling him I did just that via the form). I got a strong vibe that the police officers and supervisor just didn't want to deal with me or check on my permissions. I ended up not being able to get the pictures from anywhere close to where the client requested. What kills me is that there's a strong chance I could have just conducted the three-minute mission without telling the officers and had no issues (or taken off from outside of their district and flown into their district).
I happen to live in NYC, which is one of the most drone-unfriendly places in the country, and stuff like this is a constant worry of mine as the drone laws here are very much in the gray area (don't get me started on drones and NYC...).
My questions:
- Does Law Enforcement only have the ability to restrict who takes off/lands from their districts rather than flying over their district? For instance I imagine they wouldn't have done anything if a helicopter or airplane overflew the City Hall, but I'm sure they wouldn't want a helicopter landing in Love Park just like they wouldn't allow me to take off from there.
- Do you guys typically always notify LE prior to starting a flight? (I can see this backfiring like it did in Philly, where I probably could have conducted the mission without problems if I hadn't drawn attention to myself.)
- How much should I argue with the officers if I believe I have the right to fly in a location? (I obviously wouldn't just take off in front of them if they tell me not to, but if there's a chance they're wrong I don't want to just walk away immediately and possibly lose a customer.)
- If there aren't any local laws explicitly banning drones, on what grounds can LE officers stop me if I'm not being reckless and adhering to FAA laws?
- On the spectrum of Asking Permission to Asking Forgiveness, where do you typically land if that makes sense?
- What would you have done in the Philly example above (before, during, and after the confrontation with LEOs)? Did they have the right to forbid me from flying?
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