FAA to Idiots: Don't Fly Your Drone at the Super Bowl
A taxpayer-funded PSA helpfully reminds people not to be stupid.
Yesterday the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released a 15 second video with this helpful reminder: Don't try to fly a drone at the Super Bowl, ya jerks.
I suppose, given that some drunk off-duty intelligence agent crashed his drone onto White House grounds at 3 a.m. this week, we shouldn't overestimate humanity's common sense here. But this hardly seems like the occasion for a formal (taxpayer-funded) PSA. Or a taxpayer-funded hashtag, for that matter. It's #nodronezone, just in case.
And here's the cheesy press release, including a custom logo:
January 28–Many familiar sounds are associated with the Super Bowl: Cheering fans. Referee whistles. The spectacular halftime show. Booming fireworks.
But one sound you shouldn't hear is the whirring of an unmanned aircraft overhead. The Super Bowl is strictly a "No Drone Zone."
The FAA bars unauthorized aircraft—including drones—from flying over or near NFL regular- and post-season football games. The same restriction applies to NCAA college games in stadiums seating 30,000 or more fans, Major League Baseball games and many NASCAR events.
The FAA Notice to Airmen makes it crystal clear that anyone violating the rules may be "intercepted, detained and interviewed" by law enforcement or security personnel. Besides possibly landing a violator in jail, flying an unmanned aircraft over a crowded stadium could result in an FAA civil penalty for "careless and reckless" operation of an aircraft.
Bottom line: If you want to see video of the Big Game, watch it on TV. Leave your drone at home.
It's nice the the FAA has "crystal clear" rules for football-bound aircraft, but it would be great if they got around to clarifying rules for commercial and personal drone use one these days, since delivery of tacos, Amazon orders, and much more are hinging on the slow-moving regulatory body.
In the meantime, individual venues and teams can surely handle the task of conveying stadium rules to spectators and punishing violators. Heck, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has a suggestion:
H/T: Alert reader Richard Rohde
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Wait a second. If I’m at the Super Bowl and want some delivery sushi from Jiro’s, I can’t have it delivered to my seat via drone? Why the hell not?
Following the White House incident, drone maker DJI is introducing a mandatory firmware upgrade that will disable its drones in the Washington DC no fly zone.
“The new firmware will prevent Phantom 2 drones from flying anywhere inside a 15.5-mile radius of downtown Washington DC, so owners living in the area will now need to travel outside that perimeter if they want their drone to be operational. DJI’s Inspire 1 and Spreadwings series have not yet been restricted in the same way.”
Jesus. Because DC and its denizens are sooooo much more important than the rest of us. It’s like having ABM protection only of that stupid cesspool.
Wait, there’s more:
This update is actually part of an already planned expansion of DJI’s No Fly Zone system that restricts flying around airports, across national borders, and other restricted areas (as determined by local authorities).
So, petty tyrants everywhere will be able to restrict the drones, apparently.
it’s not like you won’t be able to get 3rd party software that enables the drone to travel to such locations
Very well. I hereby declare my home and the airspace above it, which I don’t own but hereby declare jurisdiction over, as restricted. Any flights of any kind above it without my prior written permission result in my instant and complete ownership of said vehicle or the market equivalent in gold.
Nice try, asshole. But you need a mandate from at least 51% of the people in order to make declarations like that enforceable. Or at the very least the implied theoretical consent of the idealized fully rational governed.
Okay, fair point, so I checked. My wife, kids, cats, and turtles are all on board, with one abstention. Vote carried, mandate imposed. Oops, there goes the ISS–all Libertate property now.
A drone invasion would be the only thing that would make the Super Bowl worth watching.
Are you thinking what I’m thinking? Black Sunday II. With drones.
Heck, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has a suggestion…
You know who else liked to give flak?
The FAA Notice to Airmen makes it crystal clear
So sexist.
“But this hardly seems like the occasion for a formal (taxpayer-funded) PSA.”
You’re nuts. The NFL is a non-profit organization, and the taxpayers already have to fund stadiums — who the hell else do you expect to pay for these PSAs??!
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