Hi. Here is a video clip of an incident I had today:   I had just taken off about two minutes earlier at a local park (it is in an authorization zone with a 197 foot drone maximum altitude limit) and was flying about 50 feet up and 200 feet distant when I was alerted by the ADS-B to an aircraft in the area. I did not hear any airplane noise. Indeed a swiftly moving plane was visually spotted immediately maybe a mile away and was flying straight toward my flight area. I would estimate the height of the plane at about 175-200 feet and it later appeared to be some kind of small jet (not a commercial jet). As it got closer I got new warnings (both audible and prompts) saying that an aircraft was in the area and was too close (you don't say). After the first warning and after spotting the jet I immediately lowered my altitude to about 25 feet. That plane was moving pretty fast and definitely flying lower than it should have been ( this park is about 3 miles from the local airport). From the initial visual spotting of the plane to when it flew over was about 30 seconds time. I was very happy I had ADS-B because this jet flew right over the top of where my drone was and on the drone video you can briefly see the shadow of the plane on the nearby trees. See the plane shadow going across on the trees on the right middle portion of the video at about 17 seconds into the video.
It's good to know the Air 2 has this technology.

a small jet flew over you at 125 feet, did I read that correctly?  the airport is 3 miles away?

The Saint Posted at 7-2 18:32
a small jet flew over you at 125 feet, did I read that correctly?  the airport is 3 miles away?

Hi. I have revised my height estimate of the jet to about 175-200 feet. It happened so fast it kind of startled me.

These new features can be really helpful at times

That jet should not have been that low that far from the airport.

Magicdroner Posted at 7-2 18:38
Hi. I have revised my height estimate of the jet to about 175-200 feet. It happened so fast it kind of startled me.

OMG - you can actually report that to the FAA as an incident. That jet should have been 500 feet up as an absolute minimum that far out from an airport. Glad this tech helped you out as you would still have been to blame if your drone hit the jet, despite it flying illegally.

A J Posted at 7-3 02:12
OMG - you can actually report that to the FAA as an incident. That jet should have been 500 feet up as an absolute minimum that far out from an airport. Glad this tech helped you out as you would still have been to blame if your drone hit the jet, despite it flying illegally.

Hi. I've had phone conversations and e-mail chats with the local airport authorities about flying a drone around here (both airport manager and control tower personnel) and from what they told me aircraft are supposed to be at no lower than 400 feet altitude at that distance from the airport. I'm wondering if the airport control tower has any telemetry logs that monitor aircraft that are flying in the area (for instance telling flight path and altitude and speed at various locations of the flight path)? This incident was indeed scary.

Magicdroner Posted at 7-3 11:32
Hi. I've had phone conversations and e-mail chats with the local airport authorities about flying a drone around here (both airport manager and control tower personnel) and from what they told me aircraft are supposed to be at no lower than 400 feet altitude at that distance from the airport. I'm wondering if the airport control tower has any telemetry logs that monitor aircraft that are flying in the area (for instance telling flight path and altitude and speed at various locations of the flight path)? This incident was indeed scary.

Those pilots would not hesitate in reporting a near miss with a drone - why not reciprocate

A J Posted at 7-3 11:40
Those pilots would not hesitate in reporting a near miss with a drone - why not reciprocate

If the ADS-B didn't alert me and I was flying the drone at say 175 feet I really can't say if I would have avoided hitting that plane as it really wasn't very loud.      After the 4th of July weekend coming up I think I will contact the local airport and tell them about this.

Magicdroner Posted at 7-3 11:56
If the ADS-B didn't alert me and I was flying the drone at say 175 feet I really can't say if I would have avoided hitting that plane as it really wasn't very loud.      After the 4th of July weekend coming up I think I will contact the local airport and tell them about this.

Let us know what they say. Good luck

Just an FYI. It is legal to fly an aircraft closer than 500 ft. to the ground under certain circumstances. The are where the jet flew over is, however, questionable as to the legallity of that particular area. I'd have to know more but the park does look rather wide open and appears to be devoid of people (except for the op). Not trying tp defend the jet's pilot, just saying it might not be a black and white issue.

BTW: Here are the regs on minimum altitude for fixed wing aircraft.

91.119 Minimum safe altitudes; general Except when necessary for takeoff or landing, no person may operate an aircraft below the following altitudes:
(a) Anywhere – An altitude allowing, if a power unit fails, an emergency landing without undue hazard to persons or property on the surface.
(b) Over congested areas – Over any congested area of a city, town, or settlement, or over any open-air assembly of persons, an altitude of 1,000 feet above the highest obstacle within a horizontal radius of 2,000 feet of the aircraft.
(c) Over other than congested areas – An altitude of 500 feet above the surface except over open water or sparsely populated areas. In that case, the aircraft may not be operated closer than 500 feet to any person, vessel, vehicle, or structure.

Close call indeed!

You say that ADS-B saved your drone.  More importantly it may have saved the lives of the people in that plane!

close call indeed but where the aircraft

If you want to know the plane and altitude, you should try https://flightaware.com/adsb/coverage. Enter the city and and select the flight for the date and time this incident occurred on. Click on the "View Track Log" and view a trip graph that includes altitude.

Same Track Log

Pappy3 Posted at 7-14 16:55
If you want to know the plane and altitude, you should try https://flightaware.com/adsb/coverage. Enter the city and and select the flight for the date and time this incident occurred on. Click on the "View Track Log" and view a trip graph that includes altitude.

Same Track Log

Hi. It was kind of a coincidence today that Pappy3 made that post. Earlier today I called the local airport manager and told him about the incident and all he basically said was that the height of the airplane which almost hit my drone might of been ok if it was approaching the airport for a landing. I told him the plane's flight path was in a northerly direction and if it was going in for a landing it would have been travelling easterly. He kind of brushed off that fact. I forget to ask about whether flight logs of local air traffic were kept and could be looked at. The recent post above could definitely point me toward getting some info about that low-flying plane. Thanks are definitely in order. Thanks.

Pappy3 Posted at 7-14 16:55
If you want to know the plane and altitude, you should try https://flightaware.com/adsb/coverage. Enter the city and and select the flight for the date and time this incident occurred on. Click on the "View Track Log" and view a trip graph that includes altitude.

Same Track Log

Hi. I went to FlightAware and created an account. From what I can see it appears that to get flight data on flights that happened in the past there is a rather substantial fee charged. Am I correct in this analysis?

Magicdroner Posted at 7-16 11:10
Hi. I went to FlightAware and created an account. From what I can see it appears that to get flight data on flights that happened in the past there is a rather substantial fee charged. Am I correct in this analysis?

Looks like you get up to 3 months of historical data as a "Basic" user.
https://flightaware.com/commercial/premium/

At a distance of 3 miles, the aircraft should be about 900 ft AAH. Estimating aircraft height can be a challenge when on the ground. A fixed wing aircraft should not be at 200 ft at that distance. A rule of thumb, 3 degree glide path, the minimum a fixed wing should use, is 300 ft per nm. Your height estimate would be correct for an aircraft about .5 nm from the runway.
The park you were in is about 2.5 miles from the runway threshold, so using the above rule above the aircraft should be 750 ft above the airfiled elevation


Unless the aircraft was in an emergency situation I would raise an event with the aviation authority if an aircraft is as low as you report. Also, nice area.
WIth regards the aircraft direction you say 'I told him the plane's flight path was in a northerly direction and if it was going in for a landing it would have been travelling easterly.' After tracking the shadow, it follows the tree line which runs roughly east/west and lines up with the airfield and does seem to indicate the aircraft was heading in the direction of the airfield.