Who has a Drone they take Camping?

4x4van wrote:
So, there is actually only one possible violation in that 2nd pic; flying over people (and even that is questionable; the drone is actually over the road, while the people are off to the sides...how far away do they have to be to make it OK? I don't know; do you?). As for the road, you even admit that there are no cars on the road, so that is NOT a violation (unless a car shows up, correct?) Which is why in my original post
In any case, my initial point was simply that you stated, quite clearly, that his pics appeared to directly violate at least 2 FAA rules; Since I am not a drone owner/operator but would like to eventually own one, I simply asked what those violations were, and rather than clarify, you instead made us all jump through hoops to finally get an answer to a seemingly simple question. Was that really necessary?

I specifically said "APPEARS"to be two violations, which you reference above.

What I think is a violation, or what you think, is probably going to be different than what some cowboy FAA official thinks. And citations and warnings have been know to come in the mail with the only evidence being a Youtube video or other social media post. Have you ever had any dealings with OSHA? its the same thing with the FAA. The regs are all open to interpretation by the enforcing entity and right, wrong, or indifferent you are going to be on the losing end about 99% of the time. Sure you can plead your case, good luck. As an example...."No person may operate an aircraft in a careless or wreckless so as to endanger the life or property of another". That's a broad catch all.


Now all of this spiel is taking into account that your chances of receiving a citation via certified mail from the FAA is about as common as having a bag of cash fall from a plane and land in your yard, but it does happen.

You can not tell from that picture exactly where the rafts are in relation to the drone as far as a direct vertical drop, and neither can the FAA. Neither could the pilot verify it. As far as the road you can interpret the FAA regs as you wish. In one of the citations linked below a person was cited and one of the specific violations listed was "You deliberately operated the above described aircraft at extremely low altitudes over buildings,vehicles,people, streets and structures". Just because there is no car on the road in the specific picture matters little to the FAA.

Here is some good reading material, granted most include some violation of classified or restricted airspace, but most also include some bonehead move by the pilot, like crashing into the roof of the US capitol.

FAA