Drone hovering around Lincoln fire raises questions

By Andrew Ozaki

LINCOLN, Neb. —A drone hovering around a three-alarm fire in Lincoln last week raised questions from authorities.

A police officer asked the pilot to ground the quadcopter at the request of the fire department, which he did. But Lincoln Police Chief Jim Peschong said later he didn’t know if they had the authority to do it.

“I wouldn’t say there was a violation on that,” Peschong said.

The pilot, Jase Robak, has applied to the Federal Aviation Administration to fly his drone commercially. That could take up to three months if he is approved, but Robak has the freedom to fly it now so long as he doesn’t sell the video he shoots.

The FAA allows hobbyists to fly unmanned aircraft systems for recreational purposes. They have to follow rules, like flying under 400 feet, flying within line of sight, staying away from large stadiums during games and not endangering people.

“You don’t really have to do anything to be a hobbyist,” Robak said. “You can just go to the store, and buy one and fly it around.”

That’s a concern to Matt Waite, who started the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s drone lab three years ago. He sees problems with allowing amateurs to operate drones while restricting businesses.

“They’d have liability insurance,” Waite said. “They’d have training. They’d have a reason to be good at what they do.”

He said that since the FAA doesn’t have staff to enforce its rules, it’s asking local law agencies to determine what’s a violation and report them to the FAA.

“This is going to show up more and more,” Peshong said. “And what can we do, what can’t we do?”

Robak said his drone cost about $1,500. He said that while he was at the fire, he saw another person with a drone.

http://www.ketv.com/news/drone-hovering-around-lincoln-fire-raises-questions/32475492