I hate local drone ordinances.
For the most part, drone regulations established by localities are driven by misinformation and urban legend. Every mysterious blob and shape in the sky that was once called a flying saucer is now assumed to be a drone up to something nefarious. Lots of folks believe drones are lurking at their local swimming pool (they’re not) or off the end of the runway at LaGuardia (they’re REALLY not).
I say this to put the following in context. I really like the drone ordinance recently passed by the Fort Wayne City Council, at the behest of the Fort Wayne Police Department. For the first time I’m aware of, a local government has come up with regulations that actually build upon the rules already established by the Federal Aviation Administration.
The FAA has sole jurisdiction over the control of airspace, including when and where drones can fly. They are the sole agency empowered to grant or deny permission to fly. That doesn’t stop some localities from trying to set up their own layers of local control.
But the Fort Wayne ordinance, which recently went into effect, is different. It adds a layer of safety over a part of Fort Wayne that’s busier than ever and more interesting than ever to photographers – downtown. The ordinance establishes a “downtown aerial district” and creates a requirement that drone operators notify the FWPD when they intend to fly in that area.
Local authorities don’t seek to grant or deny permission to fly. The new ordinance only establishes a requirement to tell police when and where you plan to fly. I’m a Part 107 licensed drone operator, and I don’t mind that requirement one bit.
Part of the intent of the ordinance is to make it easier to assess and stop unsafe flights. But I also think it effectively creates a first-ever layer of drone air traffic control.
When I fly downtown, my biggest fear isn’t weather or finding a place to take off and land. My greatest fear is the element I can’t control – other drones that might be in the same area and who might or might not be flying with a high regard for safety. Collisions or radio interference are hard to avoid when one pilot isn’t aware of another operating nearby.
Eventually, the new Fort Wayne ordinance will result in a public-facing notification database. As a flyer, I’ll be able to look on a FWPD web site before I fly to see if anyone else is already there or operating nearby. It’s the first form of drone ATC any community has ever created.
The Fort Wayne ordinance is a good one. It doesn’t try to exert control over airspace. It doesn’t seek to control when and where we fly. All it says is that I have to let everyone else know that I’m flying and where I’ll be flying. This is local drone regulation with a useful purpose.
If Fort Wayne drone operators abide by the new rules, the skies over downtown will be safer for everyone – and no less restricted than they already are.