Posted on 07/10/2014 1:11:05 PM PDT by Seizethecarp
Transcript: Shep Smith: Police in NY arrested two people for flying a drone over the George Washington Bridge not far from a police helicopter. The cops say the drone came within 800 feet of one of the police choppers before the pilot of the drone turned it away to avoid. Jonathan Hunt: One of the cops in this NYPD helicopter noticed some lights approaching just after midnight on Monday...on closer inspection he noticed those lights were actually a drone. Apparently the chopper pilot thought he needed to take evasive action to avoid being struck by that drone. He then followed it. It landed on top of a van. Cops on the ground went to look at that van, found two guys they said these are our drones they said "We're just having fun." Cops didn't quite see it that way. Shep: Any word from these men or a lawyer? Hunt: We've just spoke to their lawyer in fact. They've been released on bail. The lawyer says this is a publicity stunt by the DA to have a chilling effect on people flying these drones for fun. This, by the way, was a dji Phantom II, you see it right there. The lawyer says that thing can't fly at 2000 feet where the cops said it was, it can only go up to 400 feet. This is the pilot training program from the dji company that clearly says don't fly these thing above 400 feet. It doesn't actually say whether they CAN go higher than that.
(Excerpt) Read more at video.foxnews.com ...
I thought it was George W Bush for a second there.
Coming within 800 feet of a cop is now grounds for arrest..
No, they were actually buzzing the copter and thought it would be funny. They are both very sorry for it now...
NYC has had a huge drone problem all of a sudden as drones have gotten cheaper and able to fly higher. They have even interfered with commercial aircraft. Personally, I’d rather not die in an air crash because some idiot was playing with his drone.
Too bad, officers, get over it. You fly over houses in the middle of the night below legal altitude and then you arrest kids flying a drone? Hypocrites
Some miscreants “just having fun” apparently forcing an NYPD chopper to take evasive action at midnight near the George Washington Bridge. I shudder to think whether they were trying to bring down the chopper. No word on whether they had suspicious middle-eastern names.
The perps were using the roof of a van as a convenient mobile urban takeoff and landing zone.
Last week in the comments section of a WaPo story on the increasing incidence of accidental (or not) drone near-misses with aircraft in US airspace this dji quad-copter brand was mentioned as having standard software installed that prevented flying near US airports.
One would think that for US sales altitude might be restricted to below 400 feet but that would rely on the user honestly setting the elevation or barometric pressure wouldn’t it? I am a retired CPA, not a pilot...
Exactly where is the line between an RC plane and a drone?
I would ordinarily agree with your cynicism but my daughter is a flight medic and drones do pose a navigational hazard.
The range on the transmitter/controller is only 980 feet, and if it wanders out of range it will "return to home" for you (I haven't tested that feature yet).
They are a lot of fun, but I can definitely foresee a problem with them in congested cities.
Try taking a picture of him while you're at it.
There's NO WAY that thing flew up to 2,000 feet. Not at that size, not with those small propellers and not at that weight. The radio control for that thing can't be more than 500 milliwatts at the most (half-a-watt) and wouldn't reach that far either!
Someone's lying --- and it's the Cops.
They aren’t drones, they are R/C aircraft. AFAIAC they are wonderful.
A R/C fan near Portland posts wonderful YT vids. Wait about 30 seconds for the music. Many times he flys around his neighborhood.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJUQQWpFRvs&list=UU2RRNLsF0jMKZ4keG38JEPg
Then there is this Swedish guy who has done AMAZING things like fly over Niagara Falls. Here’s one of his freaking going into near space AND BACK!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpBnurznFio
R/C craft, drones aren’t the problem. People are
the problem.
I thought they meant George W. Bush, too!
Anything below 1200’ AGL is fair game until you get within 5nm around Class B,C, or D aerodromes.
Good question. Reporters are just hyping up the story because 'drone' sounds so much more sinister. What these guys were flying is a radio controlled model. Drone is really a very misapplied term. Drones use to refer to unmanned vehicles preprogramed to follow a certain flight path; often used for target practice. What is commonly referred to nowadays as a drone is really a remotely piloted vehicle (RPV). Same concept as a R/C model except an RPV is capable of being controlled from many miles away and does not rely on line-of-sight to pilot the craft. RPVs carry onboard cameras to relay visual information back to the operator.
Turns out the cops were chasing the drone: http://yro.slashdot.org/story/14/07/10/1759249/police-recording-confirms-nypd-flew-at-a-drone-and-never-feared-crashing
The cops take that kind of thing very seriously.
They take everything seriously.
They are always serious, angry and aggressive. How dare those men fly a toy in their sky.
They had to take evasive action. Almost had to call in an MRAP and the SWAT Team. Probably had to wear camo for this very serious operation.
Cops don’t like no drones.
Oh, and dogs. Dogs make cops angry too.
Drones. Dogs. Eye contact.
Know your place slaves.
Well, regardless, it is obviously Bush’s fault, just ask any liberal! Poor guy, I’ll bet he doesn’t even get any of the tolls either!
“Coming within 800 feet of a cop is now grounds for arrest..”
It was night. You can only see the lights. Licensed pilots know the rules.
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