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FEMA Grounds Private Drones That Were Helping To Map Boulder Floods

Posted by Unknown on from the we-don't-know-what-we're-doing-but-we'll-arrest-you dept.

First time accepted submitter MrMagooAZ writes "An interesting article about a questionable reaction by FEMA in response to the flooding in Colorado. It seems a small firm was working free of charge with County officials to use drones to map the area and provide near-real-time maps of the flood damage. When FEMA took control of operations one of their first acts appears to have been to not only ground the drones, but threaten the operators. 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help you?'" The drone model in question has permits from the FAA to be flown around even. The drones were replaced with manned craft that, due to the terrain, where unable to fly low enough to make useful maps.

3 of 356 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Could this be due to the helicopter operations? by Above · · Score: 5, Informative

    Bah, hate replying to my own comment, there is a NOTAM: http://tfr.faa.gov/save_pages/detail_3_4481.html

    "No pilots may operate an aircraft in the areas covered by this NOTAM (except as described)."

    Reason for NOTAM : TO PROVIDE A SAFE ENVIRONMENT FOR LARIMER COUNTY FLOODING SAR

    So the drone operators are in violation of FAA rules.

  2. Re:Could this be due to the helicopter operations? by russotto · · Score: 5, Informative

    Wrong NOTAM, as they were in Boulder County, not Larimer County. There is a NOTAM for Lyons, but since the drone operators were operating under Boulder County SAR's authority, they were not violating it.

  3. Re:Could this be due to the helicopter operations? by Above · · Score: 5, Informative

    Apparently you didn't even read the NOTAM.

    "Altitude: From the surface up to and including 13000 feet MSL"

    I actually got the wrong NOTAM, which is why the date is wrong. The right one is http://tfr.faa.gov/save_pages/detail_3_4333.html and was issued back on September 14th. It says "Altitude: From the surface up to and including 11500 feet MSL"