Uninvolved Persons

Went flying today to try out my new anafi thermal and took off with no-one around within 50 metres, then a stupid dog ran towards my drone at 40 feet and started barking at the drone, then the owner encroached within 15 metres of me to say I was flying illegally and it was her following the dog that made her nearer to me so I tried to land the drone to keep the peace but the bloody dog was trying to grab it, so she starts screaming at me. I say control your dog and I will land it so she starts to write in a notebook saying she was going to report me ---- for what? Sometimes you just cant win with these jobsworth

SBH

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ā€˜Donā€™t bother writing it down love, itā€™s all being recorded, now if I can just have your name please?ā€™.

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I wouldnā€™t be surprised if the same person is happy to let her dog off the lead and run loose in public areas, free to bound up to whoever it likes and for the subject of the dogā€™s attention to be told ā€œDonā€™t worry, he/sheā€™s very friendlyā€.

Sounds like a tricky situation, particularly if the person in question wasnā€™t willing to control the dog. Iā€™m sure if you had tried to land the drone and the dog had been injured then not many people would be willing to hear your side of the story.

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Technically she was in the right, assuming youā€™ve mentioned a 50m separation because you were flying in A2 or A3. Legally its 100% your responsibility to maintain separation, not anyone elseā€™s.

Iā€™m not saying she was reasonable, but legally you donā€™t have a leg to stand on in this situation.

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Contingency plan would be to move the aircraft 50m + away from the person ā€¦ doesnā€™t really matter how far they get from you personally - then land at your alternate TOAL which you had pre-planned.

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I think I would have been very reluctant to land with both the dog and its owner in close proximity. I maybe wrong in saying this but surely that fact she was interfering/distracting the pilot of a drone in flight is against the law or just downright dangerous at the very least.

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Was this somewhere dogs would be expected to be under control? Iā€™d say the dog owner had some responsibility to control their dog around other people especially as it was acting aggressively to the drone. That would then allow you not to hurt the dog on landing if it tried to grab a drone in flight.

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Sounds to me like Karen decided to make herself an involved person :wink:

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Dangerous maybe. Itā€™s not against the law though (for details see Myth #5 at Graham Deggā€™s blog). Legally the responsibility is entirely on the pilot to ensure they can make the flight safely. That includes ensuring no uninvolved persons will stray within the separation distance, and that the pilot can remain free from distraction.

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This came up on one of the Facebook groups. Even if the dog was out of control, that doesnā€™t absolve the pilot of their absolute responsibility to be able to conduct the flight safely. Both parties can be legally in the wrong, but the dog owner probably has a better argument if they say that the dog had never seen a drone before, so they couldnā€™t have expected how it would behave. Whereas the pilot will find it tough to argue that you wonā€™t encounter dogs off lead in a park.

Some parks are covered by a PSPO requiring dogs to be kept on lead. The pilot might have a better argument if that was the case.

Of course the reality of all this is that the chances of it ever going ā€œlegalā€ are next to nothing anyway :slight_smile:

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She didnā€™t attempt to control the dog who was clearly stressed seeing a drone and could have bitten either of them. Instead she got out pen & paper :joy:

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Iā€™d have told her to pull her cheap Primark kacks out from between her butt cheeks and jog on. Iā€™d have also made sure I was filming her as she did it :smiley:

Lonely old holier than thou Karens really do get on my tits.

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Being Devilā€™s Advocate, the above is fine but if the Pilot is attacked surely he would be absolved of responsibility.

Attack: could be the dog jumping up aggressively or a hijack with firearms?

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I donā€™t think a fine reading of the drone regs will answer that :slight_smile: Likely to come down to an individual magistrateā€™s opinion - and in the lower courts they donā€™t always follow the law that closely.

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Not that I have the answer to this, but what concerns me is at the time of take off you have an empty field your drone is in the distance and this were to happen I go back to the time of take off it was safe to make the flight

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Hmm.
If I had enough battery power left, rather than try to land the drone with an excitable dog nearby I would have been inclined to fly it up and well away and hover. Then point out to the lady that the drone was in a legal position and ask her to continue with her walk, promising to land the drone as soon as she was well clear of the landing point.

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Iā€™ve not had any issues and I certainly donā€™t know the answers.
I would always be as un-confrontational as possible BUT confident in what I say. Being close to 17 stone and just short of 6ft I know I can look threatening so always try and downplay it.
BS baffles brains as they say.

In the above scenario pointing out the dog was acting aggressively and that if the Police were involved it could classed as out of control and a threat to the public which could mean it being confiscated and put down.
Then ask for the dog to be put on a lead and therefore under control.
Ask her to move away to 150 metres, BE SPECIFIC that that is the legally required separation needed.
(no need to explain legally needed by the pilot!).
Once she has moved away land the drone, put it safely away then ask her to discuss her concerns.

Aggressive reaction will always escalate the situation unless you are 7ft tall, 23 stone and carrying a sawn off shotgun!

I always tend to fly with SWMBO so it is easier to converse with members of the public as we tend not to fly at the same time.

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Thanks @kvetner for clearing that one up. I have heard both sides of that argument so wasnā€™t quite sure. It really does put the responsibility on the pilot to make sure all situations in the air and on the ground are covered. Never had this happen to me but will be more mindful about it from now on.

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Looks like thereā€™s some practice hand catching in the near future for you maybe.
Sounds like no matter what you do though ā€˜Karenā€™ would always be moaning.

Did you have an incident / log number from the police? Iā€™ve found when flying in potential areas where ā€˜Karenā€™sā€™ hide round corners, placing a call to the police prior to flying & then quoting the incident number to ā€˜Karenā€™ it takes the wind out of their sails. Giving them the satisfaction of thinking theyā€™re right isnā€™t part of my mentality.
Fortunately the dialogs Iā€™ve had in potential conflict types of situations have all ended positively :blush::crossed_fingers:

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Itā€™s the main reason Iā€™m finding it difficult to get some of the city centre shots that I want. Itā€™s all very well flying in A1 and happily above buildings and people, but itā€™s difficult finding a location where I know the TOAL can be done without people causing bother, and where I still have good VLOS.

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