On most evenings in Morgan County, Brad Jones would be outside of his home flying his drone and taking breathtaking shots of the sunsets; however, his hobby came to an abrupt end when the drone was shot out of the sky.
“I was hovering around 350 feet, taking pictures of the sunset, and when I heard the gun shot, it immediately started spiralling down over 357 feet to the ground,” said Jones.
Over $3,000 fell from the sky after a .22 caliber bullet rendered the drone useless. Jones said the person who pulled the trigger is in for a rude awakening, if they are caught.
“I’m sure they don’t know that it’s a federal offence to shoot a drone out of the sky,” said Jones.
The FAA said a drone is considered an aircraft, and shooting one down is a federal crime, even if it’s over personal property.
Jones filed a police report and asked anyone with information on who shot down the drone to contact the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office.
Source: Local8now
The amazing thing about drones up in the air is the higher they go – the more they look like they are over someone else’s property – when in all actuality they are not. Even when I have
flown my drone and it appeared I was over someone else’s property I would check the map/flight track and every time it showed I was WELL WITHIN my own property boundaries. The map review that tracks the entire flight is a great way to prove your case in court. Too bad some person shot down the drone as I have also taken some great sunsets above my house at 350′!
The general public has a legitimate concern for obvious privacy issues created by hovering sUAS more commonly known as (drones). Imagine sitting in your back yard, enjoying a private moment with a loved one, or family when you spot a drone seemingly hovering over you. You would naturally be concerned with your privacy being violated. The experience can even be interpreted as hostile not knowing the reason the drone is there or whom is flying it.
However it is an aircraft and shooting an aircraft out of the sky or even just shooting at an aircraft is a federal offense and the wrong responsive action.
All sUAS (drones) .55 lbs. up to less than 55 lbs. must be registered with the FAA before flying. That registration number also must be legibly affixed to the aircraft. If you see a drone in the air see if the drone has it’s registration number. If it does not, call and report it to local authorities. If the drone has a number, write it down and then make a report. The Local authority can quickly ascertain the legitimacy of the flight.
For the Pilot flying the aircraft. Good pre-flight planning will mitigate the risk of this kind of ending to an otherwise perfect aerial experience. If you are going to fly in areas that are populated, Notification of the flight and its purpose can ease tensions with everyone involved. Notify those that may be impacted and explain the intentions of the flight. This practice may ease tensions and as the frequency of sUAS presence in the national airspace continues to increases, the practice of preflight notifications will be accepted as a determining factor in the legitimacy of sUAS flights in our national airspace.
This practice of all sUAS Pilots performing preflight planning and notification of all involved parties will begin a standard in the ability to discern a legitimate flight from a flight with possible nefarious implications. It may also ease tensions of those that believe that all sUAS flights flying over their property are there to spy or invade their privacy; as privacy is something we all have the right to enjoy in our homes.
I’m not meaning to pick at your comment; I just want to clarify the registration number regulations. Registered drones do need to have the registration number legibly printed and affixed to the drone, but it does not need to be legible from a distance, and in most cases won’t be, for one, because drones don’t have big enough bodies, like full-size planes, to have a tail number, but secondly because the registration number doesn’t have to be outwardly visible. It only has to be accessible without the use of tools. For instance, one could affix the registration number on the DJI Inspire 2 onto the drone body such that it is not visible once the battery has been installed.
I agree that most numbers may be illegible from the air however my main point was doing notifications if you notify those around where you’re going to fly they will be less incline to think that the Drone is there for wrong purposes. it’s just a courtesy thing but something that will help to avoid problems down the road. It’s also good practice to notify local authorities some of whom are still not clear on all the rules and regulations.
Notifications is just a suggestion however it has great potential and eliminating being shot out the sky because the person thought you were spying on them. Doing the notifications will also create a way to show your neighbors why you’re drone is in the sky seemingly over their property.