Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time
Just when you thought people couldn’t get much more stupid someone goes and surprises us all by proving us wrong. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) declared that influencer Trevor Jacob deliberately crashed his plane in California in December for the sake of a YouTube video.
The FAA has since stripped Jacob of his pilot’s certificate, revoking any permission to fly any kind of aircraft.
The FAA has declared Super Bowl LVI (56) taking place on Sunday 13th February, a “No Drone Zone” and announced that there is a Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) over the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood California beginning at 2:30pm local time (Pacific) and ending at 8:30pm. The TFR means that you’re not allowed to fly within a 30-nautical-mile radius of the stadium horizontally to an altitude of 18,000 feet (~3.4 miles).
Additionally, A further flight restriction prohibits drones from being flown within one-nautical-mile of the stadium from 10am on the 13th until the above TFR kicks in, up to an altitude of 3,000 feet. The penalty for breaking these restrictions is a minimum $30,000 fine, potentially some prison time and you’ll almost certainly never see your drone and its footage again.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has released The Recreational UAS Safety Test (TRUST), which is a free online training programme that recreational drone users are required to take and pass before being allowed to fly their drone. Interestingly, even if you have your Part 107 certification for commercial use, you still need to do this, too.
And don’t think you can easily get away without it (not for long, anyway), as you’re legally obligated to present proof of having taken it if asked by the FAA or law enforcement when flying recreationally. And it appears to apply to all drones, even those under the 250g minimum limit.
The FAA has announced dates for when their new tightened drone regulations (revised from an initial proposal in December 2019) will start to take effect. Not all of the rules are coming in at once, however, taking a staggered approach that sees completion in September 2023 – shorter than originally planned, but still gives pilots and manufacturers plenty of time to comply.
Coming in on April 21st are the Remote ID and Operations Over People rules. The Remote ID system requires identification for drones in flight as well as the location of their control stations or takeoff point. And the Operations Over People rule applies to those flying under Part 107 certificates.
The FAA released its ruling on Monday, December 28th, on Remote Identification (Remote ID) for drones and also a final rule on flights at night and over people. Their proposal was originally published in December 2019 and it appears to have gone through some changes, including removing the requirement that all drones essentially be connected to the Internet whenever they’re in the air.
While it is a long and complex document, an Executive Summary of the Final Rule provided by the FAA does break down the basics of how the system will work and the requirements for drone pilots throughout the USA.
A drone pilot from Philadelphia recently earned a massive $182,000 fine from the FAA. He allegedly broke multiple regulations over 26 separate flights over the course of only one year. Drone attorney Jonathan Rupprecht has analyzed the case and explains how it is even possible for the FAA to know when and how you’ve broken the rules.
With drones now well and truly here to stay, some close calls, some too close and too many major disruptions, drones regulation is big on the minds of lawmakers around the world. While more laws generally won’t stop those who purposefully intend to break them, authorities are attempting to do something about holding them accountable.
The idea of “Remote ID” is that drones would essentially have a digital license plate. It’s a popular concept, allowing for more freedoms for legitimate users and make it easier to find those who break the rules. The FAA has introduced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on how this could be implemented, although DJI is not happy about it.
If you fly a drone as a recreational pilot in the U.S., here’s some good news. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced that it’s now granting you a near-instant authorization to fly in controlled airspace. The expanded Low Altitude Authorization and Capability (LAANC) system will allow recreational drone pilots to fly around approximately 600 airports.
The Federal Aviation Administration has just released its 20-year forecast predicting what may happen in the world of aviation between now and 2039. It covers a number of topics from international and domestic travel to commercial aircraft and UAVs.
Of particular note is that the commercial drone market appears to be expanding rapidly. In fact, they expect it to triple in size by 2023. They also say that consumer drone demand has “slowed considerably” and that they expect it to continue doing so.
After a rule was proposed last year, it’s now been officially made a law: your drone needs to have its ID number visible on the outside. So, instead of just having it inside the device’s battery compartment, you’ll now have to put a “license plate” on your drone.
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