Flying over people and what is considered modification?

[PatR]

I can only relate based on my own experiences. Being one of those that has done what Mr. Garvin lamented about previously with car shows (with permission and controls) I can say that from my own experience the definition of "flying over people" is something that requires considerable thought, and even more restraint. There are situations where just flying near people but never over them can be extremely dangerous. There are times where passing over people at a reasonable height will generate, at most, minimal danger. Hovering over people at any height will always present unnecessary danger. Reflecting on my experiences shooting car shows and county fairs I can candidly say that I will never do another car show if the general public is moving freely among the cars. Without completely blocking the asile you will be flying through the risk is extremely high, and even if totally blocked there is still considerable risk if and when something goes wrong with the aircraft. If the public is actively moving about within 100' or so the risk is just too high. Far better to do the shoot before the public is allowed in or after they have gone.

What we do is heavily influenced by "unknowns". We are never 100% certain how our flight controllers will respond to input. We never know our drones are going to maintain the course and altitude they have been commanded to fly. We don't know that the radio frequencies we are using will remain unimpeded or free from interference. We don't know when or if a motor or ESC might fail, or a propeller break or separate in flight. So any time we are flying over, around, or near people there is doubt, and where there is doubt there should be concern.

I can tell you that even if your drone functions perfectly, people will either intentionally or accidentally do everything possible to interfere with your flight path. The only thing you can depend on is they will be unpredictable. They will deliberately walk under your aircraft while staring at it. They will be oblivious to anything other than what they are looking directly at and accidentally walk into the path of the aircraft. They will reach up and try to touch it. They will stand right in the middle of a well marked landing area that is cordoned off to prevent their access. Whatever you don't want them to do is precisely what they will do, and do it at the worst possible time. Your stress level is off the charts, and more time is spent aborting a picture or film run because of human interference than actually flying them.

I'm no prude either but using my personal experiences I've learned that things just work out a lot better when more distance from people is maintained rather than less. Just for giggles, I'm attaching a "Splat Calculator" as an interesting way to play with threat factors.

If anyone has a desire to play with the numbers, the Typhoon H weighs in the area of 2 kilos. If hovering at a height of 33 meters and the motors stopped it would fall at 25.43m/s (56.88mph), hit the ground in 2.6 seconds, with an impact force of 646.8 joules, or 477 foot pounds of force. The numbers get interesting as the altitude gets higher.

The Splat Calculator - A Free Fall Calculator

 

[FlushVision]

I'm not trying to be a prude here, but I was just trying to see what everyone thinks "flying over people" means. Videos abound where you see drones barely above someone's head, or flying at a beach an what not. I hardly ever fly lower than 100ft.

IMHO anyone flying over someone should be avoided if possible even though it may be legal in a particular country (it is my understanding that in the U.S. it is illegal without a special waver from the FAA, but please correct me if I'm wrong on this). Flying over people is exactly that: The action of causing your UAV to fly directly above a person.

But in different countries the laws pertaining to UAV flights differ. Some countries allow it with minimum heights (like the U.K.), some countries have no restrictions at all and allows flights over people barely above head height, and some ban flights directly over people no matter how high the drone is. So what a person thinks about "flying over people" will largely depend on where that person lives in the world.

For example, although I would try to avoid it, it wouldn't trouble me too much if I later saw in footage captured that I had flown over an individual (a dog walker, say) that I hadn't noticed at the time so long as my aircraft was 50mtrs above him (though it would worry me a bit that I had failed to notice that dog walker in the first place). I wouldn't have broken the U.K. law. An American, on the other hand, may be troubled if he did similar.

All this is pertaining to individuals or very small groups of people. For larger groups of people (what we in the U.K. would call a 'congested' area), is a different story. A hobby flyer must stay at least 150mtrs away from a congested area, but must not fly more than 120mtrs above the terrain. This effectively prevents a hobby flyer from flying over a larger group of people. In contrast, though, a PfCO holder may fly in a congested area but stay at least 50mtrs away (in the form of a bubble) from people not under his control, so a PfCO holder can fly over a larger group of people so long as the number is less than a thousand and he stays 50mtrs above them.

Now, should a PfCO holder fly over a crowd? Not if he can avoid it. Indeed, I would question that PfCO holder's competence if he feels that it is ok to plan a flight over a crowd. But is he breaking U.K. law? No. So long as he remains high enough.

The above is correct to the best of my knowledge of drone laws at the time of writing. If you read this 6 months down the line things above may no longer be correct...who knows?

 

[PatR]

Our FAA provides some exceptions for flying over people that do not require waivers. If people are aware, briefed, and part of a shoot they can be over flown. If they have an overhead shelter that will protect them they can be over flown. So it can be done, but only after meeting some conditions.

None of that implies that posting a “drones in use” notice at the entry to an event would allow over flights of people. Each individual would have to be briefed and agree to accept the the risk.