Flying over White Pass

NacMacFeegle · Jan 8, 2019

Rmwac said:
I hope you are correct on that flying over Nat Pk info. I THINK that the FAA is treating Nat Pks as Special Use airpace. At least on the island where the Statue of Liberty is located, a videographer ( coaching drone pilots on how to shoot NYC legally) was cautioning folks to fly from a boat, and under no circumstances overfly the island, as it is Nat Pk territory. So, I may be wrong, but I think National Parks are verboden There is an east coast You Tube guy who tells a tale of woe on being busted from 2000 miles away for the crime of making a 30 second video over some Nat Pk land.
A year after the video was put up on You Tube, some ranger from that park saw the the vid, TRACKED DOWN the author, had a local CO prosecuter indict, put out a warrant.... whole 9 yards. In the end, they tried to fine him $2000, but a local judge reduced it to $850.... nice people.

I think the Statue of Liberty is a special case - it appears to be on a list of specific sites where the airspace itself is closed.
The NPS website states that you can fly over NPS land so long as you don't take off or land within the boundaries. However, the website does highlight a few other rules to be careful of:

If the unmanned aircraft pursuits or harasses wildlife or creates an intentional disturbance of wildlife nesting, breeding, or other activities, the user could be cited for a violation of 36 C.F.R. § 2.2.
If the user of the unmanned aircraft knowingly or recklessly creates a risk of public alarm or nuisance by causing noise that was unreasonable under the circumstances or by creating a hazardous or physically offensive condition, the user could be cited for disorderly conduct under 36 C.F.R. § 2.34.
36 C.F.R. § 2.12(a)(3) prohibits, in non-developed areas, operating a device powered by a portable motor or engine, except pursuant to the terms and conditions of a permit.

It's likely that in the situation you mentioned they got him on one of those - you've got to be extra careful when flying over places like National Parks. Even if you do so legally it's possible some gung-ho ranger might decide to start a vendetta against you! I blame big Christmas drone panic of 2016 where the national media hooked into the holiday drone sales figures and used them as portents of a coming robot apocalypse. This media blitz was also exacerbated by a few high profile drone incidents in National Parks - most notably one that occurred in Yellowstone where some moron was flying an el-cheapo toy quadcopter and it fell into one of the geothermal features. It's a big deal when something happens to those geothermal features, and messing with them is like kicking a hornets nest in the large and passionate community of outdoors enthusiasts and national public lands workers. That one incident and the much hyped drone apocalypse inspired an irrational hatred of drones in a lot of people.