...for Drone360 Magazine. I've posted on other forums and have gotten a lot of responses that run the gamut of "that's dangerous" to "the FAA is too strict." Would love to hear your feedback.
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So I wrote a thing on flying over crowds...
- Thread starter Kara Murphy
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Nicely done.
I think a lot of the shots of large crowds could be done, safely. At the very least, over a nearby structure. I know that I certainly wouldn't be okay with being seriously injured or killed by an unnecessary risk. The chances seem remote, but the consequences could be fatal.
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I think a lot of the shots of large crowds could be done, safely. At the very least, over a nearby structure. I know that I certainly wouldn't be okay with being seriously injured or killed by an unnecessary risk. The chances seem remote, but the consequences could be fatal.
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It would be nice if someday we would be able to fly over consenting people, i.e. Actors etc. with a release, but I am not sure the FAA will ever implement even that and for sure nothing like the video shown in the article. Looks like a huge liability risk and a huge fine if caught.
I think one flaw with the "don't fly over people rule" is that it may lead pilots to conclude "well, as long as I'm a few feet away horizontally from people, I'm good" when in fact a UAS falling from a failure or accident almost never falls straight down. So leaving a little cushion from people is a safer bet, but you can't really enforce that in the ruling.
The biggest problem for the immediate future is that the new administration has put a lot of regulation-making on hold during the transition period, and they've also instituted policies designed at limiting future regulation, so the FAA may not even be able to address the over-people issue for a while. That can't be making Amazon happy, among others...
The biggest problem for the immediate future is that the new administration has put a lot of regulation-making on hold during the transition period, and they've also instituted policies designed at limiting future regulation, so the FAA may not even be able to address the over-people issue for a while. That can't be making Amazon happy, among others...
Wow Kara, you are obviously a very accomplished writer and I really enjoyed reading the article. The whole safety issue is massive and can easily be exploited by the media - I am sure we are all well aware of the various 'near misses' that crop-up in various parts of the world these days around airports but this type of overflying crowds is one I hadn't given thought to before. God forbid the day that a UAS gets sucked into the engine of a passenger jet but in reality surely it is much more likely that one falls from the sky into/onto a large gathering of people. A media godsend if/when it happens.
"... it may lead pilots to conclude "well, as long as I'm a few feet away horizontally from people, I'm good" when in fact a UAS falling from a failure or accident almost never falls straight down."
This has been addressed in the "ARC Recommendations - Final Report - April 1, 2016". While not a proposed rulemaking yet, the committee's report says, in section 4.1:
"The ARC also considered what flight “over people” means. With the guidance of FAA staff in the room, the ARC came to understand that this term means flight of a UAS directly above one or more persons."
So today, i.e. right now, under Part 107 if you're not "directly above one or more persons," you're legal. Other parts of the ARC committee report recommend - again, not yet an FAA rule - that for all but the most risky flights a UAS should maintain 20 feet of clearance above peoples' heads and 10 feet of lateral clearance.
This has been addressed in the "ARC Recommendations - Final Report - April 1, 2016". While not a proposed rulemaking yet, the committee's report says, in section 4.1:
"The ARC also considered what flight “over people” means. With the guidance of FAA staff in the room, the ARC came to understand that this term means flight of a UAS directly above one or more persons."
So today, i.e. right now, under Part 107 if you're not "directly above one or more persons," you're legal. Other parts of the ARC committee report recommend - again, not yet an FAA rule - that for all but the most risky flights a UAS should maintain 20 feet of clearance above peoples' heads and 10 feet of lateral clearance.
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