"My Drone Crashed in Your Backyard"

[allisji]

A circle slash drone sticker like the one Skippr posted would make it a Class B for his drone to come on your property....

I think that the drone may be able to beat the rap, but is it worth the ride?

[priusron]

Some of the attitudes are similar to finders keepers which won't stand up in court. He has a legal right to fly his drone. You do not have a legal right to damage his drone or refuse to return it to him. there is a false belief that you own the air above your property. If that were true you could charge the airlines for flying over your house. You could also prevent the police from flying over your marijuana crop without a search warrant.

[twomillenium]

I had a new one last night at around 8:30. This topic obviously comes up frequently about answering the door unarmed.

I was home along last night and expecting my wife and kids home any minute. I was already getting ready for bed and had disarmed. I was in the kitchen much nearer the front door than the back bedroom where I left my pistol, and then the doorbell rang.

I thought maybe my wife had decided to come in the front door rather than the garage for some reason... sometimes the GFCI trips in the garage of the garage door opener battery gets low. So I answered the door and it was a gentleman that I didn't recognize. "Sorry to bother you." He said, "I'm you neighbor at the end of the block down there, and I just got a new drone and it crash-landed in your back yard" as he showed me the remote control. I don't know most of my neighbors unfortunately. I thought briefly that someone could be up. But I didn't see any suspicious vehicles around and he looked like an honest guy...

I wasn't going to let him in my house however, so I went out to the front yard. Without my phone, keys, gun, or even my shoes. Left the front door unlocked and walked him to my back yard.

At this point he could have had cronies who rushed into my house and ransacked the place. I was totally exposed.

He operated the remote and we saw a green and red light flashing way up in the trees behind my back fence in an open area off of my property. So I kindly told him how he could get back there to the trees where his drone was stuck and wished him good luck and away he went.

Nothing happened and I'm not sure if he recovered his drone. But I realized how simple it would have been to have asked him to allow me to grab my shoes and keys, and then I could have strapped on my gun and locked the door on the way out.

Hindsight is always 20/20, just glad he was not a nefarious character, but that is exactly how crooks operate. I keep my gun on me until I shower, and then its within reach. or I go to bed, again, within reach. It's surprising to me how vulnerable I feel just getting up at night to use the restroom.

Good post and reminder of how quickly something bad can happen.

He is in Seabrook, I don't think he was worried about a character from nefar. (Seabrook is too warm for them and besides there is no way to defend yourself from them anyways)
It is suppose to be registered unless it is under 1/2 pound.
Sounds like you have figured out the uh oh's. Nothing usually happens but we don't know when and if it will. I would have returned the drone as well but asked for the memory chip of video for my inspection as I would have been curious as to why he was flying over my property. That is one way we learn, by our uh oh's.

[Mxrdad]

I hear ya, I have felt "naked" a few times not long ago. Not a good feeling. On a side note, I want to throw something out here.

I might be able to shed a little light here as I have 2 of those "High Dollar" drones. I purchased them to video my grandkids while we are at Lake Rayburn. I can fly over water and follow them in boats, or follow them while riding 4 wheelers, or whatever and must say its a blast. Watching the videos with the kiddos is a lot of fun. I would encourage anyone slightly interested in it, get one. No previous experience is needed. It is absolutely simple to fly and someone that has never flown one before could easily fly one. One look at these drones and you could easily see the difference between one of these and a toy. Now hear me out before blasting............

I cant speak for the smaller toy ones but the larger ones, such as a Phantom 3, have Auto-Hover, are capable of video at 4K, still photo's and has GPS and other sensors on it. They are not a kids toy. Kinda like comparing a BB Gun to a .45 ACP. I can tell you there is no way one of these drones can spy on someone. Simple reason; they are LOUD and the cameras cant zoom in or out so the drone would have to be right next to you to spy. And any audio would be drowned out by the props. In fact, I have my audio turned off for that very reason. So it should be easy to tell if a found drone is a toy or a "Big Boy's Toy".

There are laws governing the use of a drone, such as, but not limited to, cant fly higher than 400 ft above ground level, cant fly over people, in neighborhoods, stadiums, and must be registered with the FAA. I dont think the little toy ones need FAA registration, but I dont know where the "cut off" is as far as size. The large ones have a Return To Home and will come back to you when battery gets so low. And has auto take-off and Auto-Landing. There are more laws and more features but too long to go through it all.

One more thing to consider, since these drones are registered with the FAA, their flights are recorded and can be tracked. It is a huge no-no and a crime to shoot one of these out of the sky. Since they can be tracked, the flight data shows a ton of info and will show the exact flight path from take off to landing (or crashing) complete with altitude, speed, degrees of turns, etc. But I have to admit, the thought of popping one of these out of the sky sounds fun but the recourse could be expensive. I would not recommend it.

Like most things, if used as intended and the laws are followed, its a blast. If mine crashes, it will be either in the woods or in the lake way away from endangering the innocent. Except for maybe a fish or possibly a squirrel. I'd guess there is a slim to no chance of seeing one of these bigger drones in a residential setting.

[Alf]

He has a legal right to fly his drone.

Maybe, if he complies with all applicable FAA regulations, but he doesn't have any legal right to set foot on my property without permission.

[G.A. Heath]

I own an Unmanned Ariel System, and I am very much into operating it legally. Texas Government Code chapter 423 is considered to be one of the most draconian drone laws in the nation. in reality it all falls on what the definition of "surveillance" is. Also if the operator is licensed to fly commercially then they are prohibited from flying at night, unless they get a waiver from the FAA. Night flights for hobbyists are a grey area, and the FAA discourages those.

[WTR]

My nephew bought a high dollar one to video his project sites and present them to the owner to show the progress. He can also set the drone for a specific altitude to show what amount of view would be obstructed for a given height building. He has max altitude set for 200'. Fairly high resolution camera came with it also. Makes checking cattle a breeze too. Although the bull was not impressed with it. It is loud, so not very stealth for spying.

[Mxrdad]

He has a legal right to fly his drone.

Maybe, if he complies with all applicable FAA regulations, but he doesn't have any legal right to set foot on my property without permission.

He can not fly over "people". If it lands in a backyard, its reasonable to assume there is a house by that back yard. A Homeowner could easily prove that drone should not have been flying there.

And I agree, he has no legal right to set foot on anybodys property without permission. I would have a problem if one of those "Big Ones" landed in my yard. He and I would have to have a serious talk about that. Those "Big Ones" can certainly hurt someone falling from the sky, or easily crack a windshield or other property damage. Now a kid toy? Not a problem. I would gladly give it back to the kid except I would retrieve it in my backyard if I could easily do so. Now if its high up in the tree, I wouldnt let them get it out due to liability. I wouldnt want someone climbing a ladder and risk a fall or other injury. I would let them know its in a tree and if/when it comes down, I'll let ya know.

[Glock4ever]

Nothing different than a soccer ball being kicked over the fence or worse case a baseball breaking a window. Don't sweat the small stuff.
Real criminals are not knocking on your front door apologizing.

[WTR]

Those "Big Ones" can certainly hurt someone falling from the sky,

My Nephew looked at several " BIG ONES" before he purchased his. He said they all had a controlled decent mode if you ran close to being out of juice. He demonstrated his for me. The drone was hovered over the drive apron until it ran low on battery, it then landed it's self under a controlled gentle decent.

[J.R.@A&M]

For what it is worth, my ag lawyer colleague with A&M advises landowners not to shoot down straying drones http://agrilife.org/texasaglaw/2016/01/ ... aw-claims/ .

[The Annoyed Man]

Some of the attitudes are similar to finders keepers which won't stand up in court. He has a legal right to fly his drone. You do not have a legal right to damage his drone or refuse to return it to him. there is a false belief that you own the air above your property. If that were true you could charge the airlines for flying over your house. You could also prevent the police from flying over your marijuana crop without a search warrant.

Conversely, some of the attitudes of drone pilots are remarkably similar to vandals who feel that you neither have any right to privacy in your fenced back yard, or a right to privacy behind the windows of your home. That stuff cuts two ways, and the drone haters didn't start it.......drone flyers started it by being nosey, intrusive, and disrespectful toward the privacy and property rights of private individuals.

I'm not saying that all drone flyers are like that at all. What I AM saying is that if the drone-flying community doesn't start policing up its members' behaviors regarding the reasonable property and privacy rights of others, then they can reasonably expect a backlash of concomitant PR to work against them. Only a child wouldn't understand that.

Personally, I don't have a lot of sympathy. Yeah, drones are cool, but it's just NOT that hard to respect other people and their rights. It cuts both ways. You want land/home owners to respect your ownership rights over the drone, all you have to do is reciprocate by respecting their property and privacy rights. Only selfish oafs are unwilling to accord others that common courtesy. Personally, I don't care if you fly your drone 200 feet above my house while just passing over it on its way to some other specified location. I'm fully capable of understanding either the creative or commercial need to do so. But when you start spying on me and mine, and the property and activities that are very deliberately hidden behind a privacy fence or my 2nd story windows, then I stop giving a rat's patootie if your precious sensibilities are offended when I knock the daggum thing out of the sky. And if your drone crashes in MY back yard while intruding on my privacy, here's what we're going to do...... We're going to call the cops, and then I'm going to insist on playing the recorded video for the police BEFORE I surrender the drone back into your possession. And then you can talk to the police department's hand about your precious right to spy on others. Maybe your drone will be found at the bottom of my pool the next time. Oops.

If you need to fly one over a residential neighborhood for commercial purposes - which can be an entirely legitimate reason to do so - then it just isn't that hard to go make photocopies of a simple information/warning sheet and putting one in each mailbox in the neighborhood, informing the neighbors that you will be flying your drone over their houses on such and such day at such and so time, for this or that commercial reason. Heck, you could even use it as a means of promoting your business. But it would also serve as a notice to residents that your drone is being used legitimately, and that you are intend to be as respectful as possible of their rights during the flying time. If drone pilots took the time to show some courtesy to the people whose privacy they invade, the reaction would be far less negative.

What goes around comes around.

[AJSully421]

Kid flying a quadcopter above my roof line... fine.

Someone starts flying low and start doing things like scaring away game, harassing hunters / fishermen, or looking in windows of houses with a camera or anything else... nefarious... and I have a Remington Dove load with that drone's name all over it.

I'll deal with any consequences later, drone dies now.

[Mxrdad]

I am fairly certain if one uses a drone to spy on people, they are doing so illegally. I dont know what the law says about it all but if I can get my hands, or a stick on that bad boy, he's coming down. (Actually, dont even think about knocking it down bare handed, that could leave an ugly permanent mark). If they used it for spying, it would be so obvious and no doubt whatsoever, it was their intent and you would have to be passed out not to notice it. I cant shoot where I live due to close neighbors. But being one that owns one of these, I can tell ya they arent made for that and trying to fly it around at low altitudes is just begging for a crash. And if a crash happens, replacing that drone will hit the owners wallet to the tune of $1,000- $3,000, possibly more, so there arent a lot of pilots wanting to take that risk. They are better suited for high altitude aerial photography.

And like TAM mentioned, I have 1 neighbor at our camp on the lake. Before I flew it there, I asked them if they minded, and even showed them a video so they could see that spying is impossible. They agreed and had no problem with it. Not to mention, one has to be a very, very skilled pilot to maneuver around things like trees, power lines, buildings, light poles etc. at low altitude. In fact, at low altitude, the drone will loose signal and will likely abort the flight and Return To Home. The signal can get lost real easy. I wouldnt waste one minute worrying about a drone being used to spy on folks.

Again, a kid toy, not a problem. A big one trying to snoop around? Its going down if I can.

[carlson1]

Here is a photo of the one my son operates at work.