Class C Authorization, a 200-Foot Grid, and a Sunset Window
You are the remote PIC of a two-person crew (you plus a visual observer) hired to shoot 20 stills of a 14-story office building downtown. The building sits inside the surface area of a Class C airport. The client wants 300 ft AGL on the west face; the only usable light is between 1945 and 2000 local, which falls about 20 minutes after sunset. The LAANC grid over the building caps at 200 ft AGL, and the grid one block north drops to 0 ft. Your request for 300 ft through the FAA's DroneZone portal is still pending. Aircraft: a 2.1 lb quadcopter with one forward-facing anti-collision strobe and no other lighting. Surface winds calm, visibility 10 SM, ceiling 12,000 ft. You hold a current Part 107 certificate and have completed the required night training.
1. At 1945, may you launch and climb to 300 ft AGL over the building? Explain the airspace and night-operation requirements you must satisfy and the altitude you can actually use.
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No. Work the problem in two layers.
Airspace layer. The building is in the surface area of a Class C airport, so the operation requires ATC authorization. Your LAANC authorization is that authorization, but only up to the published grid ceiling - here, 200 ft AGL. A pending DroneZone request is not authorization; it is a request. Flying at 300 ft is an unauthorized operation in Class C, regardless of how good the light is.
Night layer. Night operations are permitted without a waiver, but only if:
- the remote PIC has completed the required night training/knowledge requirement, and
- the aircraft carries lighted anti-collision lighting visible for at least 3 statute miles with a flash rate sufficient to avoid a collision.
A single forward-facing strobe is the weak link. Before you launch, you must be satisfied it can be seen at 3 SM from the directions that matter. If it cannot be verified, the night flight is not compliant.
Operating limits. 400 ft AGL ceiling and the 500 ft below / 2,000 ft horizontal cloud clearance are both satisfied here (12,000 ft ceiling, 10 SM).
Practical answer: shoot at 200 ft with a wider lens or longer focal length, or move the shoot to a time and place with an authorized altitude.
2. Your observer says the north face looks better from the next block over, and suggests you just drift that direction at the end of the flight. How do you respond, and what do you build into the flight to prevent an inadvertent violation?
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A 0 ft grid cell does not mean 'fly low there.' It means no LAANC altitude is available in that cell and the operation is not authorized via LAANC at any altitude without separate ATC coordination. Drifting one block north converts a compliant flight into an unauthorized one.
Build the boundary into the flight instead of relying on vigilance:
- Set a maximum altitude in the app at 200 ft so a climb command cannot exceed the authorized ceiling.
- Brief the observer on the grid boundary and make 'drift north' a call-out, not a suggestion.
- Keep a lateral buffer from the boundary - GPS position and wind drift both move the aircraft without you commanding it.
- Scout the north face from the ground or from within the authorized cell rather than crossing into an unauthorized one.
If the client insists the north face is essential, the answer is a new authorization request, not a one-block exception.
3. At 1955 the strobe stops flashing and you cannot restore it. The aircraft is 150 ft AGL and 300 ft away with 62% battery. What do you do?
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Land. The night operation is now non-compliant because the required anti-collision lighting is no longer functioning, and an unlit aircraft at 150 ft near a Class C surface area is also a see-and-avoid problem for other traffic.
Execute a controlled descent and land at the launch point or the nearest safe, unpopulated area - do not continue the shoot to 'finish the pass.' Keep the observer calling the aircraft's position visually and watching for other traffic during the descent, since the strobe was doing part of that job.
After landing: document the discrepancy, do not re-launch on the same equipment that night, and do not accept a client request to 'just get a few more frames.' The corrective action is maintenance on the lighting system, verified on the ground before the next night flight.