Flying Phantom at a Music Festival - is it safe?

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Hello all, I have been flying for a few months and a friend of mine that has seen some of my shots asked me to film his music festival in Chicago at the end of August. I live in Costa Rica so I have flown around mostly jungle and beaches in my brief pilot career so there is very little chance of running into interference from WIFI etc. I am almost positive there will be multiple wifi signals and other GoPro cameras filming on site. My question is...is there a way to be 100% sure that none of these will interfere with my Phantom. My biggest fear is to lose control and crash into a dancing teen! Any help is appreciated.
 
That would be a no-go in my opinion. Regardless if there might be interference from gopro's or other transmissions from the festival equipment that might interfere with your copter, there is always a chance of a malfunction/pilot error that can cause a mishap which can have serious consequences if your phantom drops on a person. Not only for the person you might hit, but also for yourself. Let alone the negative press the hobby will get. There are already enough incidents out there that might result in (further) restriction of where and how we can fly.
 
I am worried about all the things you mention Sanderx. The festival is on a large farm so I am thinking I can fly pre-show and at a distance from people on well planned paths but, there is no reason to even think about that if I can't get find a way to keep the phantom from picking up other signals. If this is possible I will be looking to tackling the other obstacles before committing to doing it.
 
Interference probably won't be a big issue. It will be a little more noisy than your average neighborhood with all the mobile phones trying to get signal. Radio mics, etc. aren't very powerful and are on different frequencies. Just keep an eye out for high voltage lines and/or COWs (cell on wheels -- mobile antennas). Your problem is the crowd. You can't fly over them. You shouldn't even fly next to them because you have no way to alert them if something goes wrong. The music will drown you out. You can get shots from a distance but it won't be very exciting.
 
The fact you ask is it safe suggests your have your own doubts about it being safe.

Whenever you are not sure then do not fly
 
I won't fly if it isn't safe. No worries there. The main concern comes from being near a city and dealing with interference that could result in a flyaway. Again I live in Costa Rica and fly over beaches and jungle (with people around) and have had no issues with this...yet. If I can feel confident that I will be able to control the P2 then I will create flight plans that will keep people far enough away for me to feel comfortable and for them to be safe. If this is not possible, I will not fly. So the question stands....is there a way to reduce the possibility of interference? Is there a way to change the phantom from 2.4mhz to a less used frequency or is there some other option? Or as Ianwood states, if I stay away from power lines and COWs should I be fine?

I am not an idiot and safety is my top priority so please know I will take strict measures to keep the flights safe and away from people. I am asking more about interference than anything else.
 
I don't think interference will be an issue either. I was at a concert at the beginning of the summer and there was a film company that was flying a Phantom 2 over the concert at a couple of different times. They posted the pictures on Facebook.

If the venue is paying you to be there, then I would feel better about flying there. Personally, I wouldn't fly over the crowd (although the concert I went to, they did at about 50 feet). You could fly around the perimeter but then there is always the chance of a fly away.

To answer your question. There is no way to be sure that nothing will happen.
 
Thanks for the input everyone . I am not being paid by the festival but they would like to see what I can add to their post promo package. I am not sure which way I will go with this opportunity but it would be super fun to fly Chicago!
 
I have done this a couple of times. Both times we were hired by the venue and were cleared to fly over people. That said, I would not do it again. While nothing happened and we got some great shots, the risk of causing injury is simply too high. Nobody really knew about these things back when we first did it, pretty much just thought it was a toy. Now that drones are more prevalent we are starting to see an increase in legislation and of course outcry from the public on the 'danger' of these things. Most clients who contact us now for aerial videography ask about if it is legal and insured. In short, I wouldn't recommend it as there is a lot that can go wrong with potentially dire consequences. All we need is one guy to get hit with the thing and our company gets sued and our reputation is toast.
 

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