Found when scrolling through a site looking for something else entirely 
Oh yes! I’m an FAA-licensed UAS (drone) pilot, and after a huge hailstorm I was hired by a homeowner’s insurance company to inspect a roof in a fancy neighborhood for a damage claim. I did everything by the book, including knocking on neighbor’s doors before flying to tell them what I was doing, and leaving sticky notes on the doors where nobody answered the doorbell. I was in full PPE of hardhat, safety glasses and hi-viz vest with “pilot in command” printed on the back. I delineated my LZ and standing area (on the sidewalk in front of the house) with cones and caution tape.
But 5 minutes into the flight, an irate lady comes storming out of her house next door (one of those who didn’t answer when I rang the doorbell) and starts screaming at the top of her lungs at me about “spying on her” and that I was a “pervert creep” and “predator” and that she was going to call the police. I calmly explained to her what I was doing, and said please read the note on the door which was on my company letterhead, and please leave me alone, it’s illegal to interfere with the pilot operating an aircraft (drones are treated exactly like Cessnas and 737s in the law….imagine the trouble you’d be in if you did that on a Southwest Airlines flight!). And please, go ahead and call the police.
I of course continued the flight and didn’t say another word to her, but she just got more angry, screamed louder, and started making threats. I couldn’t really call the police myself, I was the pilot in command and had my hands full. She finally came charging at me, right through the cones and caution tape, and tried to grab the controller out of my hands! Very dangerous thing to do, that drone would seriously injure somebody if it crashed and hit them.
At that exact moment……the squad car comes around the corner, the 2 officers pile out and immediately drag her away from me, she’s now screaming obscenities at them too. One cop asks to see my pilot’s license and work order, I’m still flying so I tell him “both are in the pouch on the back of my vest, just pull them out and call the FAA to verify my pilot’s license. Which they do.
End result - she got a trip to the police station in handcuffs. I heard later, no jail time, but a $5000 fine, anger management classes, and many hours of community service.
And now…the only procedure I’ve changed is that I ALWAYS have a second person with me when flying, technically an “observer” in FAA parlance, but in reality to run interference for me if I ever run into that situation again. I have to charge more for each to hire the observer, but after that experience, I’ll never fly my drone alone again.
Dan Fink
NABCEP Certified PV System Inspecto