LAS VEGAS, NV — A Colorado drone pilot has found themself in hot-water from the larger drone community after posting a video of their alleged flight near the newly-installed Las Vegas Sphere. In the video, Instagram poster and alleged drone pilot @jmc0nn (credited as Justin M. Connell) is seen allegedly hovering over a busy Krueger Drive area facing east, with many cars passing underneath before landing on the nearby monorail track where the drone, which is shown to be a DJI Mini 3 Pro, meets an untimely demise shortly thereafter (all set to Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin'” as a nod to the classically controversial ending to the hit HBO series, “The Sopranos”).
You don’t believe me? Here’s the video:
Now, let’s break down this video and what makes it so egregiously stupid as well as incredibly dangerous.
Class B Airspace
When we pull up our Aloft application to check the airspace in this area, it becomes clear that it is incredibly sensitive in nature. Realistically, we did not even need to pull up Aloft to know that a flight in the city of Las Vegas, Nevada is going to be intensely restrictive if not completely barred.
Of course there would be the possibility that the drone pilot in question could have coordinated with the folks at Harry Reid International Airport to conduct a flight in the city as well as obtained the proper waivers from the Federal Aviation Administration…if they had not already admitted that they were “unaware” it was “no fly zone” [sic]:
I have some problems with this claim of ignorance by our main character in the story.
First off, the DJI Fly application makes it extremely clear that flights in restricted airspace put the liability of the operation directly on the pilot — in that, as a pilot, you must “sign-off” on the claim of liability before you can launch your drone.
Second, if the alleged drone pilot’s Instagram profile is any indication of his actual time flying drones, they’ve been flying for just over a year as of the writing of this article. I do not care who you are, a year of drone flying will expose you to nearly all of the facets of being a drone pilot — especially those relating to where you can and cannot fly. Let’s face it…it is no mystery that Vegas is extremely sensitive airspace and largely unflyable without a waiver from the FAA.
In short…there is almost no chance the pilot in question did not understand that the airspace in which they were navigating was off-limits without waivers and coordination with the staff at Harry Reid.
You may be asking, “why is flying in Class B airspace without a waiver or approval/coordination from the nearby airport dangerous?” Class B airspace is defined as the airspace immediately surrounding the busiest airports in the nation. That means an incredible volume of commercial and private air traffic coming in and out of the airport all-day, every day. On top of that, if you have never been to Las Vegas, there are a myriad of helicopters and small planes that fly at low altitude around the city and the strip on an almost constant basis.
In even shorter…flying a drone in Las Vegas is extremely dangerous to manned aircraft because of the positioning of the Harry Reid International Airport and the volume of low-flying helicopters and planes around the city.
Flying Over Occupied Vehicles in Operation
Possibly the least damning offense is still questionable operable behavior., Throughout the video clip linked above, the pilot is flying over an extremely busy Krueger Drive, with many cars passing under the drone as it “flies.”
In principle, a DJI Mini 3 is not going to do much in terms of damage to a vehicle should it fall from the sky and land on it. However, there is the slim chance it could cause enough of a distraction that it would cause a driver to react erratically and cause an accident themself.
Landing on a Monorail Track (Critical Infrastructure)
In the description of the video, the pilot in question claims they avoided the drone landing on Krueger Drive by navigating it to the right as the DJI software forced a landing due to the flight taking place in restricted airspace. This, in the pilots mind, would keep the drone out of harms way and protect the drivers using the roadway below.
The problem with this was where the drone actually ended up landing — on a monorail track…as a train was making its way down the track towards the drone. Talk about an incredibly volatile situation. I will be a realist, 99 times out of 100, the train will clear the path and go about its business without issue, especially against a DJI Mini 3 Pro.
However, that 1 scenario where things don’t go well for the train is enough for me to condemn this absolute dogsh*t behavior. After watching the footage over and over again to soak in as much information as I could, I am not entirely convinced that the drone pilot did not intentionally land on the monorail with the intention of having his drone destroyed by it for the sake of “content.” That’s just my perception and while I am far from making an accusation…it is an interesting series of movements that, in my experienced opinion, do not scream “I tried my best to avoid the monorail.”
Not to mention when you consider the average width of a monorail track is between 2- and 3-feet, it becomes extremely suspect that the drone just happened to land there. Is it impossible by all measures? No. Is it extremely improbable? Absolutely. That to me leaves enough of a reasonable doubt to say that the pilot quite possibly could have intentionally landed on the track — which is a whole other barrel of monkeys. However, without the ability to really prove intent, that will likely go unaddressed.
Fallout & Aftermath
This incident is largely still fresh — happening just 6 days prior to the publication of this blog. However, there has been a public reaction to the post which surprised me by inspiring me with hope for the future of drone operations. An overwhelming majority of the people who responded to the post both on Instagram as well as on a handful of forums and subredits that featured the video reacted negatively to the idiocy displayed by the alleged drone pilot’s actions.
In a moment of uncoordinated and inspiring solidarity, people turned out in droves to voice their displeasure with this dangerous, irresponsible, and illegal flight. Once more, they also called into question the alleged drone pilot’s credibility in asking for money via a GoFundMe page that is asking for more than 2.5x the value of the drone they lost in the incident.
Look, I won’t pretend I’m an angel. I regularly break the BVLOS rule when flying my cinewhoop in my backyard without a visual observer. I have broken the 400-foot barrier by a handful of feet in the past. Hell, I have even passed over a busy road myself. I will tell you what I HAVEN’T done though…put people in direct and very real danger. As drone pilots, we are tasked with the job of creating safe operation environments and mitigating risks as best we can to avoid catastrophic failures in our flights. In this scenario, the drone pilot allegedly responsible for this flight failed spectacularly on this front.
In a best case scenario, this is gross negligence. In a worst case scenario, this is extreme vanity and borderline malignant narcissistic behavior — endangering people for internet clout and attention from strangers. I sincerely hope this person is dumb enough to have thought anything about this flight was legal, but between scrolling through their profile (I’ll spare you the imagery) and reading their caption as well as the GoFundMe description, I am hard pressed to believe it was not intentional.
Ultimately though, none of this is up to me or any of the rest of us to decide. If this is addressed, it will be addressed by the FAA and I hope they throw the book at this individual. I see arguments in comment sections of questionable drone content that feature all of the classic hits such as, “this is why we have overreaching regulations,” or, “you are the reason the FAA is so strict with drones.” Largely, the infractions shown on these other questionable pieces of drone content are not enough to warrant the comments made about them – hyperbolic outbursts galore. In this case though? They are absolutely warranted and accurate.
Folks, avoid doing things like this. These are the types of actions that result in even more government overreach in the drone industry. Looking down the barrel at Remote ID, the last thing most of us want is even more stringent regulation of UAV operations. Fly safe. Fly responsible. And don’t be a jackass when flying a drone.
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