The Night Job With Borrowed Eyes
Tomas is contracted to film a fireworks display over a lake at 21:30. He will fly a 4.2 kg multirotor from a lakeside park. The display launches from a barge 300 m offshore, and the organisers want close aerial footage of the bursts. Tomas plans to fly at 110 m AGL, 150 m from the barge, using a spotter with binoculars on the shore. The park will hold about 2,000 spectators behind a rope line 80 m from the launch pad. Tomas has a current licence and accreditation, but his aircraft's anti-collision lights are not fitted and he has never flown at night. The local weather forecast gives 15 km visibility and light wind.
1. Identify the safety-rule problems with Tomas's night flight plan and explain what would make it acceptable, if anything.
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Several problems compound each other:
- Night operations. Tomas has never flown at night. Night flying demands orientation cues, lighting, and a higher workload; inexperience is a risk in itself. He should complete night training and currency before accepting the job.
- Lighting. The aircraft has no anti-collision lights. At night, the aircraft must be visible to the pilot and to other airspace users. Fitting compliant lighting is a precondition, not an optional extra.
- Altitude and proximity to the display. Flying at 110 m AGL, 150 m from the barge, puts the aircraft in the path of rising fireworks and debris. Bursts and falling material create an unpredictable hazard. The pilot should keep well outside the display's vertical and lateral hazard envelope, which the organisers should define.
- Spectators. 2,000 people behind a rope line 80 m from the launch pad means the flight area is near a crowd. The aircraft must not pass over the spectators, and the pilot needs a clear operating area away from them.
- Spotter with binoculars. A spotter helps, but binoculars narrow the field of view. The spotter must be positioned to see the aircraft and the surrounding airspace, not just the display.
Acceptability: the flight could be acceptable only with night currency, compliant lighting, a stand-off distance agreed with the display operator, a crowd-free operating area, and a documented risk assessment. As planned, it should not proceed.
2. The organisers ask Tomas to sign off the flight as safe so the display can be insured. How should he handle the request, and what records should support his decision?
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Tomas should not sign a safety sign-off he cannot support. His role is to certify the drone operation, not the whole display, and a signature given under commercial pressure is exactly the kind of decision an investigation would scrutinise.
How to handle it:
- State clearly what he can and cannot certify: his own operation, its conditions, and its limitations.
- Decline to fly until the lighting, night currency, stand-off, and crowd issues are resolved.
- Offer the organisers a written statement of the conditions under which he would fly, so they can plan around it.
- If the display proceeds without drone footage, that is the organisers' decision, not a safety endorsement by Tomas.
Records to support the decision:
- Night currency and training evidence.
- Aircraft lighting compliance and pre-flight check.
- Risk assessment covering fireworks hazard, spectators, and night visibility.
- Agreed stand-off distances with the display operator.
- Flight log and any incident report.
The principle: a pilot's signature is a safety statement, and it must reflect the actual conditions, not the client's insurance deadline.