How the FAA is Catching Drone Pilots

Hey everyone! Today, we are looking at a recent work of research from a specialist drone lawyer based in the US. They looked at 70 cases where the FAA prosecuted a drone pilot to draw essential data such as how the FAA found out about the illegal flights, what the pilot was doing when they were caught and how much the fine was.

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[stevet]

They can have my drone when they pry the controller from my cold, ungloved hands.

[Steve-Kratz]

Wouldn't it be awesome if our governments actually went after real crime?

[xjet]

107.23 -- well there goes RC combat at the local flying field and in theory, every crash of an RC model plane constitutes a violation and risks civil fines eh? And who says the hobby is not under threat. Who learns to fly RC without ever crashing?

[txsturgis]

When a fine is imposed when there was no victim, the purpose is to generate revenue.

[AtlanticAerials]

Great information is always sean. I really appreciate you sharing things like this a lot of us would never see things or hear things that go on behind the scenes without this type of reporting

[GoFishOffice]

I am so proud of you, look how amazing your channel is!

[andrewbaker]

Folks here in the U.S.A. place a high value on personal privacy and personal space. Media hype serves to inflame the already suspicious mind that unscrupulous motives are behind every flight mission. I try to reduce the tension by including my few neighbors in the activity and educating them while having fun. Once they understand how much knowledge and certification is involved, they relax a bit. Trust is established and suspicions are calmed! Fly right, fly legal! Thanks for a great informative podcast. My first view.

[sniffiejoe]

Its amazing we have thosends of illagal alins riding around on motorcycle and scooters on sidewalks and going against traffic with no plates and they cause in just nyc over 250 accidents a year and they walk free

[Aerosnapper]

A very interesting exposition - the take-away is 'don't be stupid' - Canada has an interesting Regulation, 900.06, which is the only one applying to sub 250g drones. It deals with careless and reckless operation and basically boils down to ' don't be stupid'.

[cmaccowan]

Seventy in one year compared to the amount of drones in the U.S. doesn't seem that high. Of course I'm thinking most of these cases were "caught" fairly easily since the FAA doesn't have a large number of investigators patrolling neighborhoods. Overall, I appreciate the work you've done in our communities information cycle on the FAA. Hope to see you on TNL soon.

[auburnalum]

In the US we have a "Karen" that is strategically placed every few miles to call the FAA and report a 'violation' no matter if the truly is a violation or not. Drones are known to irritate and trigger all Karens.

Interesting to not that all the crashes involving people never amounted to a single injury. With the litigious nature of the US you would figure that someone would have sued the drone pilot for mental distress. 😄

[jaysmith]

I think you did not make much of any effort to explain HOW the FAA would catch someone if there were no crash or incident.
Someone flies illegally, but nothing goes wrong - How would the FAA catch you?!????

[dogstar]

This was hella informative. We see nearly all violations are from after the fact crashes and the majority people fined are non-Part 107 certified. Learn your charts, folks. Don't fly BVLOS "It won't happen to me" Wind shear near a tall building took my drone behind the radio shadow. My drone loitered but then initiated RTH But the building was in line with the home point and just above my set RTH level of 300 ft. As luck would have it I was flying my Autel EVO II and it's optical avoidance system guided the drone 60 ft off course to avoid an antenna farm on the roof. The drone regained signal after a full minute and flew back directly but it could have just as well flew into a window and cracked it. It can happen just that fast.

[glennalan]

Unique and excellent video! Very interesting. Just subscribed !

[IdahoQuadcopter]

Thank you, Sean! This is great information!

[jakesdronelife]

Very educational and an informal video thanks buddy I enjoyed it !

[darrell]

Book em Danno, we have a pilot that is doing everything legally as a hobbyist except someone just benefitted from the drone and now it's a safety issue. No one benefits, then it's not a safety issue and no license is needed. Makes perfect sense.

[SailingSarah]

I thought you were going to go a little bit further with the information but I appreciate you posting this video. I think the takeaway here is don't crash and don't be seen!

[TimsDrones]

Interesting - I think the way I fly and where I fly keeps me clear of the FAA - thx for the info. Loving that class G airspace out here in the sticks.

[Trevor_Fuss]

One stat that would be interesting would be the Public complaints compared to actual violations detected and how many investigations resulted in no action being taken or Warnings issued without fines