I flew 4 times on Sunday, early morning. On my first flight, I may have flown over a power plant. All flights were from the same launch point, across the street from the plant in a parking lot for a public open area.
The power plant is no longer operational and was partially dismantled earlier this year. The plant produced electricity by burning oil. It is still a major landmark in this small town.
Flight 1: P2V+ 8 minute flight. This is the only flight that went in the direction of the plant. Apparently, the power plant security guard claims a drone flew over the wall and over plant property around this time.
Flight 2: I flew a second flight with the P2V+. After landing, I completely packed the P2V+ system in its rucksack.
Flight 3: Phantom 1 FPV flight, with goggles. Three spectators stop to watch.
Flight 4: Phantom 1 line-of-sight flight. Just prior to lift-off, a police SUV pulled into the power plant’s lot across the street and parked facing me. My buddy asked if I was still going to fly. I launched and we let the spectators check out the FPV goggles.
About 6 minutes into the flight, the police dismounted their vehicle and walked over. I invited the officers to look through the goggles, which they did. They were impressed and interested in the Phantom. I then told them I needed a few seconds to land the drone before talking to them further.
They asked the usual questions about price and flight duration. They were professional, polite and unintimidating. One of them noted a subdued US flag patch on my rucksack and asked if I was military. I told him I spent 13 years in the Marine Corps.
They said the security guard at the power plant had called about a drone flying overhead. They left to talk to the guard.
They came back several minutes later and one officer asked me for ID. I handed him my driver’s license. He verified my address, asked for the name of my employer, my company address and phone number, and my license plate number.
I heard my name come back on the radio with a lot of law enforcement 10-codes, so I figured he was verifying all the information he had asked for.
The other officer came over and they told me I could fly all I want on this side of the street, but the power plant was a sensitive area.
“Being military, you can understand why there might be certain areas where people might be sensitive about drones overhead,” he told me. I agreed.
Then he asked point blank if I had flown my drone over the wall.
I answered, “I did fly near there, so probably.” I kept a bit of “question mark” in my tone.
They were cool with that answer and told me I could fly all I wanted, but not to fly over the power plant.
They got into their black & white and left. I loaded up my birds in the car and ended up following them back towards the center of town. They turned off the main road before I did, and my buddy says one of the officers gave a thumbs-up to us from the passenger window.
So here are my hypothetical questions:
Suppose I were to check the video on the SD card, and find that I indeed had flown over power plant property, did I break any laws? Is the airspace over a power plant restricted? Where might one look for this information?
And suppose the footage on the video was actually interesting enough to get some views after it was posted on YouTube. Suppose it’s not too farfetched such a video would generate interest in this little town.
Knowing the police have all of my information, would it be risky to post such a video?
Hypothetically speaking, of course.
The power plant is no longer operational and was partially dismantled earlier this year. The plant produced electricity by burning oil. It is still a major landmark in this small town.
Flight 1: P2V+ 8 minute flight. This is the only flight that went in the direction of the plant. Apparently, the power plant security guard claims a drone flew over the wall and over plant property around this time.
Flight 2: I flew a second flight with the P2V+. After landing, I completely packed the P2V+ system in its rucksack.
Flight 3: Phantom 1 FPV flight, with goggles. Three spectators stop to watch.
Flight 4: Phantom 1 line-of-sight flight. Just prior to lift-off, a police SUV pulled into the power plant’s lot across the street and parked facing me. My buddy asked if I was still going to fly. I launched and we let the spectators check out the FPV goggles.
About 6 minutes into the flight, the police dismounted their vehicle and walked over. I invited the officers to look through the goggles, which they did. They were impressed and interested in the Phantom. I then told them I needed a few seconds to land the drone before talking to them further.
They asked the usual questions about price and flight duration. They were professional, polite and unintimidating. One of them noted a subdued US flag patch on my rucksack and asked if I was military. I told him I spent 13 years in the Marine Corps.
They said the security guard at the power plant had called about a drone flying overhead. They left to talk to the guard.
They came back several minutes later and one officer asked me for ID. I handed him my driver’s license. He verified my address, asked for the name of my employer, my company address and phone number, and my license plate number.
I heard my name come back on the radio with a lot of law enforcement 10-codes, so I figured he was verifying all the information he had asked for.
The other officer came over and they told me I could fly all I want on this side of the street, but the power plant was a sensitive area.
“Being military, you can understand why there might be certain areas where people might be sensitive about drones overhead,” he told me. I agreed.
Then he asked point blank if I had flown my drone over the wall.
I answered, “I did fly near there, so probably.” I kept a bit of “question mark” in my tone.
They were cool with that answer and told me I could fly all I wanted, but not to fly over the power plant.
They got into their black & white and left. I loaded up my birds in the car and ended up following them back towards the center of town. They turned off the main road before I did, and my buddy says one of the officers gave a thumbs-up to us from the passenger window.
So here are my hypothetical questions:
Suppose I were to check the video on the SD card, and find that I indeed had flown over power plant property, did I break any laws? Is the airspace over a power plant restricted? Where might one look for this information?
And suppose the footage on the video was actually interesting enough to get some views after it was posted on YouTube. Suppose it’s not too farfetched such a video would generate interest in this little town.
Knowing the police have all of my information, would it be risky to post such a video?
Hypothetically speaking, of course.
