Originally Posted by
Sport_Pilot
IMO it sounds like the officials overeacted. I see nothing here about the drone actually being too close to aircraft, and likely had a right to be there. Not sure if this was a restricted airspace so that is pure speculation on my part. So yes this could be hype.
No opinion, fact. He was in clear violation.
Every major fire and natural disaster gets one of these (see link). This one was for 5 Nautical miles around (Latitude: 38º34'00"N, Longitude: 120º48'40"W) From the surface up to and including 7000 feet MSL.
http://tfr.faa.gov/save_pages/detail_4_6046.html
He did not have to be near any other aircraft to be a danger. "That drone was flying within our air space and was a hazard for our aircraft," said California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Kevin Lucero. "It essentially inhibited some of our operations going on." By inhibiting air operations he endangered other people’s lives on the ground. Fire fighters and the civilians they were evacuating. But I guess it’s okay because he got some cool video.
Frank