LAANC Approved, Read to fly?

[Charlie81]

We were recently tasked with mapping a property we own that is extremely close to an airport. We put in a LAANC for approval through Aloft and first received the response of "Pending FAA Review". About a week later IT was "Authorized by FAA". The day of the flight we put in a NOTAM and we called for a briefing from FAA Flight Service Station. While conducting the flight we felt uncomfortable with the proximity of the landing flight path of incoming airplanes and erred on the side of caution by calling it for the day. Questions.

With an approved LAANC is there anything more that needs to be done?

Does the tower or FAA see our drone when flying? Are they watching it for safety?

Will the tower or FAA call to check in if they are concerned with actions of the flight?

Is it really on us to decide solely what could be dangerous or too close to an airplane landing flight path?

 

[adm_geomatics]

We were recently tasked with mapping a property we own that is extremely close to an airport. We put in a LAANC for approval through Aloft and first received the response of "Pending FAA Review". About a week later IT was "Authorized by FAA". The day of the flight we put in a NOTAM and we called for a briefing from FAA Flight Service Station. While conducting the flight we felt uncomfortable with the proximity of the landing flight path of incoming airplanes and erred on the side of caution by calling it for the day. Questions.

With an approved LAANC is there anything more that needs to be done?

Does the tower or FAA see our drone when flying? Are they watching it for safety?

Will the tower or FAA call to check in if they are concerned with actions of the flight?

Is it really on us to decide solely what could be dangerous or too close to an airplane landing flight path?


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Any time I have fly inside the bounds of an airport I notify ATC of take-off and landing. Many times the authorization will actually request this. I'm surprised yours doesn't.

 

[JimD]

We were recently tasked with mapping a property we own that is extremely close to an airport. We put in a LAANC for approval through Aloft and first received the response of "Pending FAA Review". About a week later IT was "Authorized by FAA". The day of the flight we put in a NOTAM and we called for a briefing from FAA Flight Service Station. While conducting the flight we felt uncomfortable with the proximity of the landing flight path of incoming airplanes and erred on the side of caution by calling it for the day. Questions.

With an approved LAANC is there anything more that needs to be done?

Does the tower or FAA see our drone when flying? Are they watching it for safety?

Will the tower or FAA call to check in if they are concerned with actions of the flight?

Is it really on us to decide solely what could be dangerous or too close to an airplane landing flight path?


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With an approved LAANC is there anything more that needs to be done? No. Beingtechnically correct what you have is a COA.

Does the tower or FAA see our drone when flying? Are they watching it for safety? Maybe but probably not. My local executive Airport has one of those DJI drones scanners but they only turn it on during Air shows that are there.

Will the tower or FAA call to check in if they are concerned with actions of the flight? I suppose they could but unlikely they will if you follow the terms of the. COA they shouldn’t need to.

Is it really on us to decide solely what could be dangerous or too close to an airplane landing flight path? Yes. as the PIC that is your job.

If your COA was for 200 feet I can assure you they have no worries about that altitude at that distance from the runway. Pilots basically get to 500 feet as quickly as they can. Flying lower than that is fraught with danger drones or not. and not because of worries about hitting something, but worries about stalling at a low altitude where you have no time to recover. It’s one of the major reasons for GA fatalities.

I once had a COA that said I was supposed to call ATC and when I did, they were like why the hell are you calling us?