Drone captures German Structure Fire

[AFS1970 504]

I saw this in my e-mail today: DRONE VIDEO

Now I am sure we could all comment on the specific fire, but my first thought was could a drone be used as a tool by an IC? Would this be a cost effective way to get air recon in a department without rapid access to other aircraft? I am sure that a drone that could operate at or near a fire would need to be better quality than those ones that are little more than RC aircraft one can by at the local mall, but it does seem to have some possibilities.

[dwcfireman 656]

I saw this in my e-mail today: DRONE VIDEO

Now I am sure we could all comment on the specific fire, but my first thought was could a drone be used as a tool by an IC? Would this be a cost effective way to get air recon in a department without rapid access to other aircraft? I am sure that a drone that could operate at or near a fire would need to be better quality than those ones that are little more than RC aircraft one can by at the local mall, but it does seem to have some possibilities.

It would most definitely be a great idea and a valued resource for an IC of any major incident. Having a bird's eye view of the scene, especially if the scene is expansive or complex. Additionally, drones can be equipped for search and rescue missions where people are lost in the woods. With the ability to carry cameras and be able to transmit the data to the ground, and the fact that these quadcopter drones are fairly inexpensive to purchase and operate, it would be an incredible notion to have these floating around for an IC to use.

But........If you've seen the news lately about the FAA and drones, it puts a hamper on this idea. The FAA wants all drones to be registered, the operators to be officially trained, AND they want to charge you for it. Recently the FAA has lashed out at drone operators using drones for commercial use, and again has been lashing out at private drone operators who just want to take awesome photos and video. The FAA has also lost court cases in their attepts to have drones registered for flight, but they're not going to give up the fight. The underlying issue, and I agree with this (since I'm an airport operator and firefighter), is that drones are posing an airspace threat. We've seen on the news the damage that an 8 pound goose can do to an aircraft that's flying at 180mph; that is like your car hitting a bison at 20mph! Drones may not weigh much, but they can do a lot of damage to any aircraft. And, you have to remember that larger incidents attract a larger number of news and emergency helicopters, thus congesting the airspace overhead. If a helicopter gets damaged it's not going to glide off into the distance like a plane; it's probably going o come down right next to you. The bottom line is we don't need more aircraft accidents.

I'm not saying don't do it, but, be careful if you are going to do it.

[lt411 145]

FDNY is working on a grant from the Feds to procure a drone for aerial observation at fires/emergencies, when NYPD aviation units are grounded due to weather. Who knows whether it will be approved or not, but they are pursuing the idea.

[LTNRFD 266]

The drone ( Quad Copter) in the video by what is described and the shadow in the video, it looks like it's a DJI Phantom II. With GoPro camera it will run you about $2K. The down side to using it at a large op is that it only has about 15-20 minute flight time. Depending on how you are operating the quad copter and prevailing winds. Then you have to change out the battery. Which only takes a minute , but then you have to preflight the quad and launch it again.

It can give you a live video feed, but with the GoPro no camera zoom.

[AFS1970 504]

I wonder about how heat resistant some of these cheap ones would be. I saw one at the local mall that had a Styrofoam body. That doesn't seem all that safe to me.

As for the FAA, like all regulatory agencies, they don't feel they are doing their job unless they are writing new regulations. I do think there would have to be some air space restrictions on drones, because they are sharing space with other aircraft. So there might need to be some training involved. However I also think these are likely to be operating at relatively low altitudes, because too high up and they are not getting you the information you need for the command post, especially if the camera does not zoom.

[LTNRFD 266]

Here is a short video of when I was trying out my quad copter. This video was at between 300-400 feet. What you are looking at is a southern direction. In the back ground you can see L.I. Sound and beyond that is L.I.

IMG_2850.MOV