Always nice to hear a little good news being reported on our "hobby". http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/colorado-flooding-raging-colorado-flood-waters-close-20266094
We need more good positive reporting of the many benefits that the copters have in the right hands, way to go guys
UGH, i just read the article and some of the comments after. They had prior approval to fly, was working with emergency services so communication was present, flying when ALL manned aircraft was grounded and then FEMA in there infinite wisdom comes in and shuts them down. make ZERO sense.
I read that article today too. Government control....getting waaaay out of line these days! http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/...ado-flooding-assistance-until-fema-freaks-out
Folks FEMA, while often the bad guy and does throw their weight around, wasn't the bad guy. The FAA put in place three Temporary Flight Restrictions over three areas that were badly affected so that rescue choppers wouldn't get any interference. Same thing they do for wildfires. Normal SOP. Surface to 11,000 to 14,000 feet depending on the TFR zone. They could have called the Denver ARTCC to ask for permission. Don't know if they did or even wjether they know anything about FAA regulations. And if they did call likely that the FAA would say no. As so often is the case the 'real' story isn't as much fun as the 'sensational' story.
You have to understand both sides of the argument. If the FAA shuts down the airspace over the area for The Guard to come in a conduct SAR theres a reason. You cant have guys up flying around at 1500ft FPV style doing mapping missions miles away (as above) without coordinating and deconflicting traffic.
That's one of the things though, they had coordination with emergency control and the FAA had shut down ALL manned flights. Nothing was in the air when they were flying, or at least as the article wrote it out to be.
As a current fact based example: http://tfr.faa.gov/save_pages/detail_3_5847.html Currently airspace is shut down surface to 11000 ft. This is not shut down to all aircraft. TFRs are in place to separate common traffic from those in the rescue/recovery efforts such as The National Guard.
If I understand the article correctly while they were flying the airspace was shut down for ALL maned flights because of weather. Maybe I read incorrectly.
Paul when they filmed on Saturday the TFR wasn't up yet and there were no Guard flights in the air due to the weather. And not sure how they were coordinating but once the TFR is up the only coordination/permission, manned or unmanned (at least from the FAA point of view) is through the ARTCC process. Just need to get permission. Maybe when we finally get some type of 'real' regulations in place it will be better for all.
Or maybe that guy had no knowledge of what a TFR is or that the FAA doesn't shut down airspace for weather.