4 ms·

Not mentioned are FAA rules on night flights, flight out of line-of-sight, flying drones commercially (licensing required) etc. So this could end up being feder

Not mentioned are FAA rules on night flights, flight out of line-of-sight, flying drones commercially (licensing required) etc. So this could end up being federally illegal no matter what PA decides.

blackfawn 3y ago
The linked page to their company site specifically states "We are FAA Part 107 Certified and Fully Insured." As the article does not state anything related to violating FAA rules, it'd be safe to assume (until proven otherwise) that this commercially licensed company was following FAA rules. This seems to be specific to PA game laws and at least at a glance, seems like it might be entrapment by the game wardens.
- mrguyorama 3y ago
  >seems like it might be entrapment by the game wardens. This is nonsense. Entrapment requires that the accused would NOT have done the crime, even with easy access to means, without the actions of the police. This man runs and advertises a business to do exactly this crime. This cannot possibly entrapment. Entrapment is when a cop says "if you don't cook this meth, I will kill your wife" so you cook meth. Entrapment is NOT "here's all this equipment and supplies to make some meth, and I will buy it from you at 2X market rate, and I know you need the money since your wife is dying from cancer and you can't afford treatment". If you cook the meth in that scenario, you were not entrapped. The philosophy is that you should not commit a crime no matter how convenient or beneficial to you it gets. Entrapment is not a "cops set me up" get out of jail free card.
- ben7799 3y ago
  So many of these small businesses are certified but break the law like crazy. Part 107 means you can apply for waivers with the FAA for specific activities. They almost never do for routine stuff because it would be a huge extra cost for them. My town is in a no-fly zone. Almost every house for sale still gets a drone video overfly. I highly doubt the guy doing them is applying for waivers and getting them approved. It is too trivial of a justification to get an approval. You can actually look up the waivers on the FAA website, there are orders of magnitude too few of them to explain all the flights that appear illegal.
  - subract 3y ago
    The advent of LAANC for automated airspace authorization has gone a long way towards limiting the number of activities you need a full-on waiver for. If your house is just in controlled airspace (not some type of restricted airspace), it’s possible/likely that the pilots are receiving an automated authorization to fly there up to a certain altitude <400’ AGL.
chankstein38 3y ago
The article mentions this person runs a "drone services" company. While it's not explicitly mentioned that he's licensed, I also didn't see any explicit mention that he wasn't and it's safe to assume that, if he runs a drone service company, he is probably licensed (to fly commercially). As far as I understand, flying at night is legal for most licensed drone pilots. Flying out of line of sight is still illegal.
bluGill 3y ago
This could be a case where the FAA says what he was doing is federally legal and you states have no jurisdiction so shut up. Will be interesting to see if he plays that angle. (I'm not sure what the FAA rules are on offering drone services are)

Not mentioned are FAA rules on night flights, flight out of line-of-sight, flying drones commercially (licensing required) etc. So this could end up being federally illegal no matter what PA decides.

blackfawn 3y ago

The linked page to their company site specifically states "We are FAA Part 107 Certified and Fully Insured." As the article does not state anything related to violating FAA rules, it'd be safe to assume (until proven otherwise) that this commercially licensed company was following FAA rules. This seems to be specific to PA game laws and at least at a glance, seems like it might be entrapment by the game wardens.

mrguyorama 3y ago
>seems like it might be entrapment by the game wardens. This is nonsense. Entrapment requires that the accused would NOT have done the crime, even with easy access to means, without the actions of the police. This man runs and advertises a business to do exactly this crime. This cannot possibly entrapment. Entrapment is when a cop says "if you don't cook this meth, I will kill your wife" so you cook meth. Entrapment is NOT "here's all this equipment and supplies to make some meth, and I will buy it from you at 2X market rate, and I know you need the money since your wife is dying from cancer and you can't afford treatment". If you cook the meth in that scenario, you were not entrapped. The philosophy is that you should not commit a crime no matter how convenient or beneficial to you it gets. Entrapment is not a "cops set me up" get out of jail free card.
ben7799 3y ago
So many of these small businesses are certified but break the law like crazy. Part 107 means you can apply for waivers with the FAA for specific activities. They almost never do for routine stuff because it would be a huge extra cost for them. My town is in a no-fly zone. Almost every house for sale still gets a drone video overfly. I highly doubt the guy doing them is applying for waivers and getting them approved. It is too trivial of a justification to get an approval. You can actually look up the waivers on the FAA website, there are orders of magnitude too few of them to explain all the flights that appear illegal.
- subract 3y ago
  The advent of LAANC for automated airspace authorization has gone a long way towards limiting the number of activities you need a full-on waiver for. If your house is just in controlled airspace (not some type of restricted airspace), it’s possible/likely that the pilots are receiving an automated authorization to fly there up to a certain altitude <400’ AGL.

chankstein38 3y ago

The article mentions this person runs a "drone services" company. While it's not explicitly mentioned that he's licensed, I also didn't see any explicit mention that he wasn't and it's safe to assume that, if he runs a drone service company, he is probably licensed (to fly commercially). As far as I understand, flying at night is legal for most licensed drone pilots. Flying out of line of sight is still illegal.

bluGill 3y ago

This could be a case where the FAA says what he was doing is federally legal and you states have no jurisdiction so shut up. Will be interesting to see if he plays that angle. (I'm not sure what the FAA rules are on offering drone services are)