Question about the dreaded drone

After getting swarmed by multiple drones over the past few weeks in JTree, I have a question.

If someone is (illegally, per national park rules) flying a drone (sans permit) and I were to huck a rock and hit it, am I legally in the wrong for destruction of property? Or is said "pilot" in the wrong for breaking the rules in the first place?

Both, but I support your actions.

Def both. I know even if they're creepin on you on your property you get in trouble for shooting them down.

So this article and the linked legal docs in seem to imply that it would be a felony(even though it is a rock vs shooting. The actual legal language just describes "an act of violence" against an aircraft.
popsci.com/it-is-federal-cr…

My understanding of the drone bans is that is it just a fine(albeit a large one in some cases) whereas hitting the drone with a rock has the potential for much deeper trouble(though unlikely it would happen)

Just say that you thought it was a really big wasp.

A little piece of me just died inside hearing about swarms of drones in JTree.

Maybe we all need to climb with an anti-drone eagle on our shoulder?

Throw a sling into the propellers, is that still a crime?

I was filmed a bit and started yelling

"ROCK"
I wasn't actually throwing rocks, but how were they to know. They were filming an ascent so the climbers probably got a little nervous of the alarm - which is probably the same distraction I was experiencing with the noise of the 'aircraft'. They backed off me though and when I got down and said 'thanks for gettin that out of my space' the only reply was 'fer sher'. Which I guess closed the whole issue, amicably.

Steve

Flying a drone in most cases (ignoring existing rules/regulations) is relatively safe, and can pose a risk to people within the flight area who are not aware of the flight activity in the case of hardware or software failure. However, chucking any projectile poses an immediate risk to bystanders.

I would encourage you to not take the violent approach (as pleasing as that may be), but to talk to the Remote Pilot In Command and educate them on any relevant rules and regulations. There is no need for things to become uncivilized.

Unfortunately, DanielRich is correct in that the FAA usually only imposes a fine, and from what I have seen, the FAA is really only going after commercial drone operators in terms of enforcement, and has been involved in drone incidents that resulted in property damage. This is probably because the FAA doesn't have the manpower to enforce much on the hobbyist side, and even for commercial operators, only incidents that result in property damage or injury need to be reported. Unfortunately, the FAA enforcement actions have recently not been too harsh, which might encourage further use of drones in a way that violates federal regulations.

"The remote pilot in command"

Get real.

I will testify that I didn't see anyone throw any rock.

If the "pilot" has no clue that it's a major annoyance to begin with, they don't deserve a "talking to"

Shoot to kill.

What is legal is to collide your smaller, cheaper drone into their expensive one. Hey, accident, amirite?

Well see what happen here was a was climbing and dyno'd for that hold and it broke off and flew off and hit the drone!

Stich wrote:What is legal is to collide your smaller, cheaper drone into their expensive one. Hey, accident, amirite?

Think you could take one of those things out with a nerf gun?, seems like a good enough reason to add one to your rack.

or, one of these bad boys

youtu.be/sbW3ZeoMJio

Developing a handheld EMP with biner clip

Spark plug in a coffee can with a ignition coil, coil of wire, battery and momentary switch will jam a cell phone. I imagine it will do the same for a drone.

Jon W wrote:Spark plug in a coffee can with a ignition coil, coil of wire, battery and momentary switch will jam a cell phone. I imagine it will do the same for a drone.

Even more systems. Don't mind the annoying narrator.

youtube.com/watch?v=X27-2WD…

"Even more systems. Don't mind the annoying narrator."

So what you're saying is, people need to stop bringing dogs to the crag and start bringing eagles? I'm cool with that.

exactly had the same thought, or bring your stuffed cat drone hunter-killer