- Joined
- Jan 29, 2024
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- 6
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- 8
- Age
- 51
I'm just trying to get a brief consensus on what type of police contacts (if any) any of my fellow operators have had in the field and whether they appeared warranted or not.
My curiosity stems from contacts with a state University here in Michigan where my customer has required photogrammetry work. The locations in question were in controlled space and required COA to conduct the work and of course those were obtained. The university created a "law" that makes it possible to operate from and over their campus property ONLY IF the part 107 operator submits a request, submits to a skills test at the university and is interviewed by a safety board (a process that would mean multiple trips to this location over the course of multiple months). In the case of these sites, fortunately it was possible to take off from non-university property (municipal owned), control from and land on that same piece of ground without violating any laws/tenets of part 107 operation. During both of the flights at both of these locations I was approached by very kind and respectful officers from the universities public safety department inquiring on my operations. In both instances I furnished them a photocopy of my credentials, a photocopy of the COA and an explanation of who I was working for and what exactly I was doing.
In the first instance, the officer advised me that I could not fly over campus property and I kindly advised him that he was in fact wrong and that his misinformation is not his fault (the university is responsible to train their personnel correctly). I landed, pulled up FAA drone zone and showed him the paragraph addressing this on the FAA's own website. He apologized for his misunderstanding and asked me how much more work I needed to conduct - I advised about 20 mins. He said that if I didn't mind, he'd like to stand there and observe and I welcomed it. When the task was completed and I landed, he said that he wanted to stay so that he could close out the call as having made me land and leave the area. I thanked him for the time to complete my mission and I moved on.
In the second instance, I was midway through my work again and the officer approached asking if I was the operator of the aircraft he was pointing at. I affirmed this and he asked me who I was working for so I advised him of my clients identity and the reason for/type of work I was performing. He pulled out his cell phone, opened up an app and showed my my entire flight path from takeoff to current time and told me that their dispatch sees this real time and sends officers out to investigate. He advised that he is going to close the call out as though I have the requisite permit from the university so that he would not have to force me to land and abandon my work. I thanked him and he explained that the university wants citations issued for first offense and aircraft confiscation, citation and possible arrest for second and follow-on offenses. I advised him that I was glad that he wasn't interested in any of these actions and I pointed out that I had done my due diligence to facilitate this work without violating ANY laws/codes/ethics. He shook his head when he explained that the top of their organization believes they can do anything they want without challenge - even if its not technically within their jurisdiction.
My point in telling these two stories is that I know for certain I am not alone in having unwanted and unwarranted contact as a result of overzealous folks who believe somehow that they can literally make their own rules about whatever they'd like. This is no rant either, I am far from upset by it, but I wonder how the university plans to deal with lawful flights of manned aircraft over their "privately owned airspace" and the like.
My curiosity stems from contacts with a state University here in Michigan where my customer has required photogrammetry work. The locations in question were in controlled space and required COA to conduct the work and of course those were obtained. The university created a "law" that makes it possible to operate from and over their campus property ONLY IF the part 107 operator submits a request, submits to a skills test at the university and is interviewed by a safety board (a process that would mean multiple trips to this location over the course of multiple months). In the case of these sites, fortunately it was possible to take off from non-university property (municipal owned), control from and land on that same piece of ground without violating any laws/tenets of part 107 operation. During both of the flights at both of these locations I was approached by very kind and respectful officers from the universities public safety department inquiring on my operations. In both instances I furnished them a photocopy of my credentials, a photocopy of the COA and an explanation of who I was working for and what exactly I was doing.
In the first instance, the officer advised me that I could not fly over campus property and I kindly advised him that he was in fact wrong and that his misinformation is not his fault (the university is responsible to train their personnel correctly). I landed, pulled up FAA drone zone and showed him the paragraph addressing this on the FAA's own website. He apologized for his misunderstanding and asked me how much more work I needed to conduct - I advised about 20 mins. He said that if I didn't mind, he'd like to stand there and observe and I welcomed it. When the task was completed and I landed, he said that he wanted to stay so that he could close out the call as having made me land and leave the area. I thanked him for the time to complete my mission and I moved on.
In the second instance, I was midway through my work again and the officer approached asking if I was the operator of the aircraft he was pointing at. I affirmed this and he asked me who I was working for so I advised him of my clients identity and the reason for/type of work I was performing. He pulled out his cell phone, opened up an app and showed my my entire flight path from takeoff to current time and told me that their dispatch sees this real time and sends officers out to investigate. He advised that he is going to close the call out as though I have the requisite permit from the university so that he would not have to force me to land and abandon my work. I thanked him and he explained that the university wants citations issued for first offense and aircraft confiscation, citation and possible arrest for second and follow-on offenses. I advised him that I was glad that he wasn't interested in any of these actions and I pointed out that I had done my due diligence to facilitate this work without violating ANY laws/codes/ethics. He shook his head when he explained that the top of their organization believes they can do anything they want without challenge - even if its not technically within their jurisdiction.
My point in telling these two stories is that I know for certain I am not alone in having unwanted and unwarranted contact as a result of overzealous folks who believe somehow that they can literally make their own rules about whatever they'd like. This is no rant either, I am far from upset by it, but I wonder how the university plans to deal with lawful flights of manned aircraft over their "privately owned airspace" and the like.