Man Shoots Down Drone in Kentucky!

[gryphon]

Right now they are unenforceable by law, yes, but...  Six months ago they began looking at making them laws, not rules.

Honestly, though, what kind of creep flies a drone with a camera very low (10'-15' above ground) over people at the beach?

[CitizensHaveRights]

I seem to recall rules for R/C aircraft, but I don't know if they were AMA rules (Academy of Model Aeronautics), government rules, or generally accepted rules (like Cooper's rules of gun handling). Under one of the three, flying over people would be a serious no-no, and your AMA insurance isn't going to cover you if you hurt somebody.

If those propellers are within 10' of somebody, I'd say your craft is clearly a physical threat. If it's more than 10', I don't see how that t-shirt is going to bring you down.

[gryphon]

I daresay the drone operator got off light.  If he had been standing there six feet away with a digital camera shooting pictures of the guy's girlfriend or wife in a bikini instead of getting his jollies off remotely with a drone camera he would have been the worse for wear.

And for all I know the drone was buzzing them dangerously low and recklessly as the man said.  The drone operator was obviously lying, so anything out of his piehole is suspect.

[Pond Scum]

Link to Newsweek article on the FAA's proposed rules for drones:

http://www.newsweek.com/faa-tells-drone-pilots-avoid-flying-over-people-306963

FAA Proposed Rules:

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2015-02-23/pdf/2015-03544.pdf

[CitizensHaveRights]

The pilot says he recorded the drone being hit by the shirt, but is not releasing that part of the video for now. He claims Lehecka attacked the drone as it was landing just a few feet off the sand.

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Drone-Dispute-Lands-Man-in-Jail-322232372.html

If you want a prize for having video evidence, how about you show us the relevant part of the video instead of just the irrelevant parts?

What's the battery life, and what's the flight duration at the point you say you were landing?
If the battery is more than 75% depleted, it adds to the believability of your claim that you were attacked while landing and not while simply flying low.

But, seriously, don't you fly your copter back to yourself before landing it?
Are you claiming that the guy followed the copter to you and then attacked it right in front of you as you were landing it?

[gryphon]

The drone operator is now changing his story.  Liar.  Oh, yeah, and to follow up to my previous post:

"FAA guidance says that model aircraft flights should be flown a sufficient distance from populated areas."

https://www.faa.gov/uas/faq/

"Don't fly near people."

https://www.faa.gov/uas/model_aircraft/

It's because of idiots like this guy who was probably standing in the bushes with his pants around his ankles that the FAA wants to change their guidance rules to laws with legal penalties which state, "drones may not fly over people, except those directly involved with the flight.”

If he would have kept to a higher elevation like was in his "released" video he wouldn't have had a problem.  But you go hovering a few feet above people with a camera and you're going to have a problem.  You go hovering outside a home window you're going to have a problem. 

[part deux]

There is also a rule that says aircraft can not fly within 500' of a building or person, unless landing or taking off...  Wonder if you can extend that rule to a drone?

[CitizensHaveRights]

Yippee! Weaponized (less lethal weapons) police drones!

http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2015/08/robert-farago/breaking-north-dakota-legalizes-weaponized-drones-for-police/

[CitizensHaveRights]

NJ man indicted by grand jury:

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/crime/new-jersey-drone-shooting-case-213450

[gryphon]

Another one.

Judge dismisses charges for man who shot down drone in Kentucky.  “He had a right to shoot at this drone, and I’m gonna dismiss this charge.” With that, Judge Rebecca Ward gaveled the case against William Meredith to a close.

http://www.wdrb.com/story/30354128/judge-dismisses-charges-for-man-who-shot-down-drone

[CitizensHaveRights]

She took everything the defendant said as fact and ignored everything the 'victim' said, despite the 'victim' supposedly having computer tracking evidence that said his drone was never over the defendant's property.

If she'd just said that facts were in dispute and there was no way to establish proof of anything beyond reasonable doubt, I'd be behind her 100%.

[gryphon]

There were other eye witnesses who said the drone was below treetop level, not above it like the owner said.  The drone was close enough to shoot down.

[part deux]

Drones are in an untested area of the law

Photography is not a crime... Unless the person has a reasonable expectation of privacy, like a public cloth changing facility or bathroom.  Peeping tom rules come into play too.  FAA controls "flying" space above the land.

[gryphon]

I think in your fenced in backyard you have some expectation of privacy.  Especially inside your house.  A drone with a camera looking in your window?

[TheQ]

I think in your fenced in backyard you have some expectation of privacy.  Especially inside your house.  A drone with a camera looking in your window?

With this logic I can shoot down any 747 within 500 miles from my house as someone on the plane with good enough optics could be spying on me in my back yard that has a privacy fence.


...satellites too!

[gryphon]

https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2016/09/robert-farago/shoot-drones-dont/

[gryphon]

The drone wasn't hovering outside his window. It was almost 200' in the air.

In the 1950's the courts ruled that it is only public airspace above 500 feet.

[CitizensHaveRights]

Yet R/C craft are generally restricted to line of sight to the operator and 400' or less AGL, in order to keep them under control and away from passenger aircraft.

[gryphon]

Which is fine.  You just don't fly YOUR aircraft onto someone else's property.

[CitizensHaveRights]

Which is fine.  You just don't fly YOUR aircraft onto someone else's property.

Which is generally feasible with rotorcraft, but only if you have a large property if it's fixed wing.
But I don't think anybody really cares about airplanes, unless maybe now with all the 'drone' publicity they'd start getting upset about a sailplane circling in a thermal to gain altitude.