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Baron 55 pilot at 9;500 feet between vny and gmn vors reports sighting a quadcopter type drone 500 feet below.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1274939 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201506 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZLA.ARTCC |
| State Reference | CA |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Baron 55/Cochise |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Phase | Cruise |
| Route In Use | Direct |
| Flight Plan | None |
| Aircraft 2 | |
| Make Model Name | UAV - Unpiloted Aerial Vehicle |
| Route In Use | None |
| Flight Plan | None |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Pilot Flying Single Pilot |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 25 Flight Crew Total 3000 Flight Crew Type 1000 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Conflict NMAC Deviation - Procedural FAR Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy |
| Miss Distance | Horizontal 200 Vertical 500 |
Narrative:
I was flying level at 9500 feet MSL. I am equipped with ads-B in and out and was observing traffic including a cirrus that was pointed out to me by los angeles center. While keeping an eye on the cirrus I caught out of the corner of my eye movement below and ahead of me. I thought it to be another aircraft low then maybe a weather balloon but as it came toward me I realized it was a drone. It was a skeletal built rectangular craft maybe 6 to 8 feet in length with no apparent aerodynamic design. It appeared to have motors affixed similar to hobbyist drones on all four corners but I could not be sure. It passed under my wing and I turned my head to see it pass behind my aircraft and move out of sight. This happened in about 10 seconds and I was surprised to see a drone flying in busy airspace between the gorman gmn and van nuys vny vors at 9000 feet. There was no traffic depicted for this drone but all other traffic in the vicinity was clearly shown on my mfd (multifunction flight display). This was a potentially hazardous and deadly situation and I thought it should be reported.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: Baron 55 pilot at 9;500 feet between VNY and GMN VORs reports sighting a quadcopter type drone 500 feet below.
Narrative: I was flying level at 9500 feet MSL. I am equipped with ADS-B in and out and was observing traffic including a Cirrus that was pointed out to me by Los Angeles Center. While keeping an eye on the Cirrus I caught out of the corner of my eye movement below and ahead of me. I thought it to be another aircraft low then maybe a weather balloon but as it came toward me I realized it was a drone. It was a skeletal built rectangular craft maybe 6 to 8 feet in length with no apparent aerodynamic design. It appeared to have motors affixed similar to hobbyist drones on all four corners but I could not be sure. It passed under my wing and I turned my head to see it pass behind my aircraft and move out of sight. This happened in about 10 seconds and I was surprised to see a drone flying in busy airspace between the Gorman GMN and Van Nuys VNY VORs at 9000 feet. There was no traffic depicted for this drone but all other traffic in the vicinity was clearly shown on my MFD (Multifunction Flight Display). This was a potentially hazardous and deadly situation and I thought it should be reported.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.