Hi Everyone,
Over on Mavic Pilots there was some discussion about flying in State Parks in the US of A. As I’m going over there next month I emailed the Florida State Parks for their official answer.
Here it is for the information of GADC members
Thank you for your interest in visiting Florida’s state parks. Unfortunately, launching and/or landing a drone is prohibited within Florida State Parks except in very rare circumstances. The portion of the Florida Administrative Code which governs the operation of Florida State Parks, Chapt. 62D-2.014, says:
(15) Aircraft. No person operating or responsible for any aircraft, glider, balloon, parachute, or other aerial apparatus shall cause any such apparatus to take off from or land in any park except in an emergency when human life is endangered or where a designated landing facility may exist on park property.
The Florida Park Service Operations Manual was recently updated to clarify this regulation in light of growing interest in drone usage:
21. Use of Aircraft
a. Definitions
Aircraft: Any machine supported for flight in the air by buoyancy or by the dynamic action of air on its surfaces, such as gliders, balloons, parachutes, drones , powered airplanes, helicopters, unmanned aircraft systems or other aerial apparatus.
b. Use of Aircraft
No person operating or responsible for an aircraft shall cause any such apparatus to take off from or land in any park, except when the aircraft is either authorized by the Park Manager or needed in an emergency in which human life is endangered. The Park Manager may authorize the use of aircraft when the flight is beneficial to the Division.
An example of “beneficial to the Division” recently was when drones were used to gather “bird’s eye view” footage of the post-Hurricane Michael damage to multiple Northwest Florida state parks, which assisted in the development of park recovery planning. In instances where it is determined that the services of a drone are required by the Florida Park Service management, management will seek out a commercial drone operator as necessary. Please let me know if I can provide any further information regarding this matter.
So I may enquire locally with the Park Rangers, but I suspect the party line will still be a “No”
Cheers,
Simon
