Space Needle drone strike.

[Helihover]

Well is it a park or private property? Seattle is trying to say you can't fly in a park, but you say the needle is private property. FAA says it's class G airspace. I'm not sure I'm following you very well. Sounds like your stating things you heard from somebody who knows someone.

Its cut and dry, this airspace is unrestricted according to the body who controls it.

 

[Raptorman0909]

While there are exceptions to the 400 foot limit this drone was very clearly way above 400 feet. Additionally, flying AROUND the structure made signal loss a high probability and an experienced or thoughtful operator should have know that. It is likely the impact was due to RTH after signal loss so it's possible the operator will escape the worst of the charges, but anyone excusing this is brain dead.


Brian

 

[TheLightSpeedz]

Well is it a park or private property? Seattle is trying to say you can't fly in a park, but you say the needle is private property. FAA says it's class G airspace. I'm not sure I'm following you very well. Sounds like your stating things you heard from somebody who knows someone.

Its cut and dry, this airspace is unrestricted according to the body who controls it.

The needle and its footprint are owned by the Wright Family... but on all sides of the footprint is Seattle Center. Which is a city park, and also is prohibited.

I'm stating facts from my 16 years of working there. I'm not in Seattle now.


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[TheLightSpeedz]

Where's my "drop the mic" GIF?


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[Seawolf]

If the Space Needle is operating systems that interfere with FCC approve control frequencies or GPS frequencies, there's no way that is legal. Particularly with the other aviation traffic in the area. The FCC needs to be brought into this investigation. They have a very strong enforcement element that can investigate illegal broadcasts, which in this case maybe a leading cause in the incident.


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[SOCPilot]

Also interesting that he or she was flying above 400'. The Space Needle is 605' tall.

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It's still wrong, but they could be up to 400' above the Space Needle if it were legal otherwise. I agree with what everyone else has said. People like this will get rules changed and make it worse for the rest of us.

 

[Helihover]

Where's my "drop the mic" GIF?


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Did I miss something?

I didn't respond to your last post because I feel I'm talking to someone who refuses to understand the point I'm trying to make. But I'm a nice guy so I'm gonna give it one more try because I feel you lack the knowledge to understand some items I'm trying to present.

Have you studied sectional charts or know the difference in airspace classification? I feel you haven't. Therefore it is impossible for you to know the type of airspace that surrounds the needle unless you were to get some help. You have not done this because you would have a different view.

AGAIN, the owners of the space needle do not control or have any rights to the airspace around it. You as a drone operator should at least know that property owners do not control airspace, yet you refuse to accept this.

Your replies consist of "well, it has to be because....". No it doesn't have to be anything just because YOU feel that there a helis and sea planes everywhere. This area does look a little busy, but that doesn't make it illegal to fly here. It is perfectly legal to fly at an airport in some cases folks!

Angry property owners can tell you anything they want, it doesn't have to be true. You know it's kind of like your relating to them because most all of your statements have to do with what's on the ground. It's up to you to find out the facts, like I took the time to do yesterday, by bringing up a section of that area.

Please read this a few times before you respond. I'm not here to fight or argue, I want to educate, and its apparent it's needed. I mean look at the two people who stated he was over 400 feet........ the drone operator could of been over 1,000 feet and still be with in the guidelines, yet many of us don't know this, or airspace classification for that matter, ....or rules in general..... ok I'm done

 

[Dunk]

I haven't check the airspace in that area, but I'll give my 2 cents on it after thinking about it today.....

Seaports & heliports don't really mean anything to a hobbiest or commercial pilot. Yes we need to be aware of our surroundings, but just because your next to a heliport doesn't mean you can't fly. All metropolitan areas are surrounded by heli ports, I mean there everywhere. If he was in the vicinity of an airport or restricted airspace, the drone would have not lifted off.

It's pretty clear to me from the video that the drone lost connection a decided to go home. If that was the case, I don't really see fault on the operator. Yes we could take necessary actions to prevent this, but this looks like a 100% accident with zero negligence involved. The cops need to give the drone back, and the FAA should have a lil sit down with the gent explaining thier safety concerns.

Look at the bottom line. The pilot was trying to get a shot by flying his drone legally. There was a mishap during the flight which resulted in complete loss of control, and finally a crash.
Then the local news happened and that's when it all went downhill..... Should of heard the comments from my coworkers after they seen this on the news........ The news is keeping the non droners in fear and steering some uneducated pilots wrong too... We all need to quit watching the news! It's easy, I started about 7 years ago and it really changed my life

You suggest that the FAA have "a lil sit down with the gent explaining their safety concerns" and in the same paragraph say that you "don't really see fault on the operator". If the FAA has legitimate safety concerns to talk to the operator about, how can the operator have no fault? Whether it was operator error, drone malfunction or even the wind that caused the drone to hit the Needle, the operator put the drone in that position.

Don't take this message the wrong way. . . I'm "pro drone" and I love flying them. I just think we, as pilots of them, need to use some common sense when flying them. If we don't, the government will do our thinking for us and none of us will like the result.

 

[Helihover]

You suggest that the FAA have "a lil sit down with the gent explaining their safety concerns" and in the same paragraph say that you "don't really see fault on the operator". If the FAA has legitimate safety concerns to talk to the operator about, how can the operator have no fault? Whether it was operator error, drone malfunction or even the wind that caused the drone to hit the Needle, the operator put the drone in that position.

Don't take this message the wrong way. . . I'm "pro drone" and I love flying them. I just think we, as pilots of them, need to use some common sense when flying them. If we don't, the government will do our thinking for us and none of us will like the result.

Thank you for calling this out. I too thought about this after I typed it.

What I meant by having a chat about safety concerns was that the operator needed training. Like how to properly use the equipment. I feel I worded that wrong and should of stated that someone needs to educate the operator on how to properly operate. The FAA is all ready involved, so they are going to talk.

This could have been prevented by flying higher, or changing the setting in the RTH feature. Maybe even using signal boosters might have helped, if in fact it was a crash due to RTH.

 

[Dunk]

Thank you for calling this out. I too thought about this after I typed it.

What I meant by having a chat about safety concerns was that the operator needed training. Like how to properly use the equipment. I feel I worded that wrong and should of stated that someone needs to educate the operator on how to properly operate. The FAA is all ready involved, so they are going to talk.

This could have been prevented by flying higher, or changing the setting in the RTH feature. Maybe even using signal boosters might have helped, if in fact it was a crash due to RTH.

No worries. I don't know enough about this incident to conclude whether the operator needed training or was a pilot with a ton of experience.

The primary point of my post was to suggest we use common sense irregardless of what the rules and/or guidelines say. In my opinion, putting a drone in the position this operator put it in was not a good use of common sense and could have ended with a much more tragic result.

Whether we agree with the news reports about the incident or not, it has once again brought negative attention to the hobby. It's exactly these kind of situations that cause the lawmakers in this country to think for us if we show an inability to think for ourselves and do the right thing.

I would place a pretty confident bet that continuing incidents like this are going to cause a result (i.e., new and more stringent rules and laws) that none of us like. If I place that bet, I hope I lose for the sake of the hobby!

 

[Helihover]

No worries. I don't know enough about this incident to conclude whether the operator needed training or was a pilot with a ton of experience.

The primary point of my post was to suggest we use common sense irregardless of what the rules and/or guidelines say. In my opinion, putting a drone in the position this operator put it in was not a good use of common sense and could have ended with a much more tragic result.

Whether we agree with the news reports about the incident or not, it has once again brought negative attention to the hobby. It's exactly these kind of situations that cause the lawmakers in this country to think for us if we show an inability to think for ourselves and do the right thing.

I would place a pretty confident bet that continuing incidents like this are going to cause a result (i.e., new and more stringent rules and laws) that none of us like. If I place that bet, I hope I lose for the sake of the hobby!

Good points. I feel the FAA is more into helping people become a better pilot, rather than "bust" them. So hopefully they will help this guy in the common sense department. The police, I feel, really haven't found their place yet. They need to give his personal property back. When was the last time cops confiscated the cars involved in automobile accidents?

My whole reason for responding to this thread was to look at the facts. What is really going on. Most people on here are saying it's unsafe and that he's not allowed to fly there and that it's restricted and so on. Yet not one person stating these "facts" knows what real fact is.

I've stated facts without involving my personal beliefs. I haven't even told you guys how I feel about the whole situation.

 

[PaulDM]

I am very new to drone flying and do believe that this person made a foolish decision. The wife and I like to spend time camping in state parks so I enquired about the legalities in doing so. It is illegal to take off and land (unless landing is necessary or or accidental) in most state parks. You can fly over state parks because the FAA has jurisdiction of airspace. This does prohibit your neighbor from "restricting" his airspace and shooting down your drone because he does not like you. Again there are rules and regulations that have to be followed including good judgement and common sense. The less that people use good judgement will cause those that make the rules (FAA) to make rules that will restrict things even more.


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[shane05]

It's still wrong, but they could be up to 400' above the Space Needle if it were legal otherwise. I agree with what everyone else has said. People like this will get rules changed and make it worse for the rest of us.

This has been posted as fact multiple times in this thread but the rule allowing flights 400' around and above structures applies only to Part 107 "Commercial operations" unless they've modified Section 336 and I'm just at a loss to find the change. Section 336 deals with Hobbiest drone activities and specifies 400' AGL with no allowance added for structures. I am assuming because the pilot here seemed inexperienced, he's not likely to be flying under Part 107. Of course even Part 107 forbids flying over people or outside LOS (backside of needle where signal was likely lost) without a waiver from the FAA which again, I'd be willing to bet this pilot did not have. He also nearly hit people working 600 feet above the ground and clearly endangered their safety. To say this is just a little accident and the pilot did nothing wrong is a good example for why drones are going to get much more heavily regulated in the future. People in general are not very good at educating and policing themselves. They just see a new toy and want to play.

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[Travels with Yoly]

The last time I was at the Space Needle in 1970 (71) (to my best recollection) we were standing below it waiting to get on the monorail when it came into the station at about 30 mph and had brake failure. It piled into the structure severely injuring dozens of people (thankfully no deaths). It sounded like an explosion and the ground shook like a small quake. We were watching it at the exact moment !

 

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

Two, it's sitting right in the middle of several airports. One is at the Komo 4 News building otherwise known as Fisher Plaza. They land helicopters there all day for news purposes.

KOMO hasn't flown a heli out of there for years, ever since one crashed onto the road below. The pad is closed.

Chris

 

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

By the way I assume this includes Gasworks park and many others. Seattle took a huge stand on Drones after some ding dong tried to fly through the "big wheel" on Alaskan Way!

I have flown out of that park and over Lake Union many times. Like most places in inner/urban Seattle, you have to keep your eyes AND ears open to avoid manned aircraft. And use common sense, of course. There are seaplanes and helicopters all over the city, not just near the air harbors.

And DJI GO does warn me when I'm flying near unpaved airports, saying to be careful. It does not restrict take-off as would happen at the international airports or pro sports stadiums.

I've also flown at Space Needle 'saucer level' heights and took photos / videos of it, but a) I stayed far away from the structure, b) didn't go behind it and so never lost signal, and c) I took off from a nearby hill so was still within 400' of HP.

On that last point, I'm reading in this thread that it is legal to be 400' above the structure, but I have never disabled the DJI Go 400' height restriction above HP.

Chris

 

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

The FCC needs to be brought into this investigation.

I'm sure they are. The local FCC office is very proactive with these kinds of cases.

I know this from personal experience, but excuse me if I don't drop a mic.

 

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

What I meant by having a chat about safety concerns was that the operator needed training. Like how to properly use the equipment. I feel I worded that wrong and should of stated that someone needs to educate the operator on how to properly operate. The FAA is all ready involved, so they are going to talk.

This is correct. I've had that chat, but wasn't fined or anything worse. The incident was innocent enough, but involved the FCC, so they required a nice 30 minute sit-down in one of their offices before returning my AC. They are not unreasonable, in my experience.

Chris

 

[Ed Colwell]

The third time it's happened.

Watch: Drone crashes into Space Needle

SB

Makes me regret writing my name and phone # in bold print on my drone

 

[TheLightSpeedz]

It's just not smart guys. Forget the other statements, I would never fly a drone in the same airspace as a bunch of Seaplanes and Helicopters. I saw a helicopter wreck at fisher plaza at 8:00am in the morning right on to Broad Street. It's killed the everyone on board. I don't know if a drone could wreck a chopper but I hope we never find out.

Seattle is making laws forbidding drones over and in the whole city. Soon you'll have to go outside of Seattle to fly.

I was thinking though, the Needle has a net around the observation deck, that inspire if it fell might have just fallen into the net and not to the ground?

I was tempted to fly the needle with my Mavic, but chickened out.


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