Drone, police helicopter almost collide

[GoodnNuff]

CHARLOTTE, NC - Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police have charged a man after a CMPD helicopter almost collided with a drone late Thursday night while they were in pursuit of a wanted suspect.
Drone, police helicopter almost collide during pursuit of wanted suspect

 

[dirkclod]

From this

Officers say Baucom refused to show registration and I.D. and told them he did not need to comply with them.

Looks like he has been reading in here.

 

[Clipper707]

He refused to land it, then refused to show ID and registration.

Sounds like he was asking to be arrested.

 

[mdowney58]

The headline "Drone, Police Helicopter almost collide.

Doesn't seem quite the same as:

Officers with CMPD were operating a helicopter ...... The officers were notified of a drone in the area. The officers had to alternate their flight path so they did not crash into the drone.

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[BigAl07]

The headline "Drone, Police Helicopter almost collide.

Doesn't seem quite the same as:




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Typical "Creative Titling" by the media. How many fewer people would open that article (outside of Drone operators) if it had read:

"Officers with CMPD were operating a helicopter ...... The officers were notified of a drone in the area. The officers had to alternate their flight path so they did not crash into the drone."

The media is more guilty of causing this problem than we (except for people like this guy in this article) for causing it.

 

[stulpin300m]

I hear people saying that you can't fly at night where is that stated ? It must be a rule somewhere because I hear a lot of people talking about it. That is not on the registration paper so is that something new?


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[GoodnNuff]

From this
Looks like he has been reading in here.

LOL, that was the same first thought I had reading this.

 

[GoodnNuff]

I hear people saying that you can't fly at night where is that stated ? It must be a rule somewhere because I hear a lot of people talking about it. That is not on the registration paper so is that something new?

It is covered by "Keep your UAS within visual line of sight." Which can be a challenge at night. On the DJI Forum, most pilots say that they lose sight of the lights at night after a few hundred feet. I have added lights to my 3DR Solo that allow me to maintain visual contact at night for 1000+ feet (where I can distinguish orientation with the lights, I can still differentiate colors). I have a very very bright (I forget the lumens) LED light on the front of my Phantom 1 that I can see from quite a distance - even in daylight.

 

[druss2001]

That guy got what he deserved...from the article:

"Baucom was arrested and charged with interference with manned aircraft by unmanned aircraft system and resist. They also found out he had been listening to police radio traffic and he told the officers he drove to the scene to fly over the helicopter and get video footage of their pursuit."

 

[SGs]

Guy was asking for trouble, you can feel the arrogance through the article. It's sad that it all it takes is 1 out of 1000 to make us all look bad. I hope he's prosecuted to the fullest.

 

[JKDSensei]

I stopped accepting the inferences implied by the media a LONG time ago. Seems the media has bent the truth a few times too many to suit agendas.

That said....if he's prosecuted to the fullest....
Hope he's got $27,000....or is it $250,000 since this might be construed as a willful criminal act?

I hope all the evidence is submitted and weighed, and that evidence proves his guilt before he's prosecuted....to any extent.

 

[shipdriver]

I'm not even sure what the motivation is to fly over a law enforcement helicopter during a pursuit at night. I can't imagine the video would be very good. Then again, the only reason I can think of for drones to fly over airports is some sort of adolescent pilot fantasy. The "notified of a drone in the area" bit is a pretty cheesy on the part of the press considering the headline, although Baucom's utter lack of judgment in dealing with the police means he pretty much deserves whatever he gets.

 

[Mark The Droner]

Quoting the lady in the vid: "The FAA has made it illegal to fly drones at night..."

Bull****.

Since when did the FAA have authority to make ANYTHING illegal?

And since when did flying at night become illegal?

AC 91-57A (taken from Public Law 115-95) applies.

See post #6 above.

Yes, the FAA has the authority to pursue enforcement action against those who endanger NAS. That is not he same as "The FAA has made it illegal to fly drones at night..."

Yes, of course they guy is wrong. But the media report completely misleads the public.

 

[linkmodo]

Sounds like some loser who want's his 1 min vid posting fame on liveleak or youtube. Flying at night... geee

 

[tcope]

Quoting the lady in the vid: "The FAA has made it illegal to fly drones at night..."

Since when did the FAA have authority to make ANYTHING illegal?

Yawn.

Because the affect is exactly the same. If you want the long version:

Illegal
1.contrary to or forbidden by law, especially criminal law.

Law
1. the system of rules that a particular country or community recognizes as regulating the actions of its members and may enforce by the imposition of penalties.

Hence, saying it's illegal is 100% correct. But again, simply see my first remark.

Getting (attempting) uber technical in a forum is well... tiresome.

 

[Mark The Droner]

You're wrong. Flying around at 50 feet at night is not breaking any laws.

If you find my posts tiresome, please click on my profile and put me on ignore.

 

[GoodnNuff]

And since when did flying at night become illegal?

It is covered by "Keep your UAS within visual line of sight." Which can be a challenge at night. On the DJI Forum, most pilots say that they lose sight of the lights at night after a few hundred feet.

I'm never sure what your point is with these posts?
Are you advising readers that they can fly to their heart's content all night long without the potential for repercussions? You'd be wrong.

Or are you just trying to show that you know the intricacies of the law? Flying at night can get you in trouble for flying BLOS if indeed you are. Flying at night can get you a citation for reckless endangerment if you get hung up in power lines, etc. Do you really know how the law works?

Anyone remember the Inspire here in Seattle that was flying at night and got caught in power lines 100 feet over Lake Union, causing random power outages for over a week until the power company had it removed at a cost of over $15,000.00? That would be a case of reckless endangerment.

 

[Air Ontario]

I don't know any pilots that will not alter their flight line upon seeing lights or an object in their path at their altitude

Regardless, it would be disruptive to the pursuit chopper and the overall effectiveness of the pursuit.

Even licensed pilots can't fly legally at night without a night rating.

 

[Mark The Droner]

Goodnuff:

It's covered by AC 91-57A.

We may not fly at night.

Has nothing to do with line of sight as you state in post #8 above.

So what do we conclude? We conclude we may not fly at night. There is no grey area. We may not fly at night. Period.

What is my point? My point is there's no law that says we may not fly at night.

However, we know the Administrator at FAA can pursue enforcement against us if we endanger the National Airspace System.

What's the difference?

The difference is, a cop can't walk up to us and write us a ticket if we happen to fly at night. He can't walk up to us and handcuff us and throw us in the back seat of his patrol car either. A law needs to be broken before they can do that. There has to be something else.

But that's not what the media would have your neighbors believe. If the media had their way, we'd be harassed by cops every time we charged a lipo.

If you want to talk about reckless endangerment, be my guest. But it has nothing to do with my posts.

 

[GoodnNuff]

It's covered by AC 91-57A.

I got my drone last week. What does this mean Mark? Do you have a link? When you throw **** like this out, we noobs don't know what you are talking about, or where we can look it up.

But from what you're saying Mark, it sounds like I can fly at night without any problems! Great to know, thanks!

That is what I get when I read your posts.

I didn't ask you if your posts were about "reckless endangerment."
I asked what your point is, to advise people they can fly at night, or to show us how well you know the law by throwing out snippets like "AC 91_57A" without any link or explanation?

I'm still wondering what your point is?

If your mission is to educate the media....wrong forum dude.