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A uas pilot realized after a flight over the horseshoe falls portion of niagara falls that he may have inadvertently flown into canadian airspace. Also; the uas postflight altitude indicated greater than 400 ft because the 167 ft waterfall drop off made the aircraft appear higher than the preflight calibrated altitude.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1389014 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201609 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0601-1200 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | IAG.Airport |
| State Reference | NY |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | UAV - Unpiloted Aerial Vehicle |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Other 107 |
| Flight Phase | Cruise |
| Route In Use | None |
| Flight Plan | None |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Single Pilot |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Private |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 25 Flight Crew Total 750 Flight Crew Type 30 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Airspace Violation All Types Deviation - Procedural FAR Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy |
Narrative:
I hold two FAA ratings: part 61 private pilot asel and part 107 remote pilot; small unmanned aircraft system. I carefully researched flying a small unmanned aircraft system over niagara falls weeks before this flight. Pilot safely and legally launched; and subsequently landed; a drone (uas) from the new york state side of the falls with most of the flight taking place over the american falls; also located on the new york state side. While in the course of this carefully planned; and safe; controlled flight over niagara falls; pilot failed to recognize the exact part of the airspace over the horseshoe falls that is actually in canadian airspace. This was realized after the flight was concluded and verified with mapping on the dji go app; which records the sequence of flight. Also; it is believed the altitudes indicated during flight were not accurate even after the uas was properly calibrated over a grass surface. Some of the recorded altitudes indicate higher than 400 AGL and believe this may be a composite measurement of the launch point altitude of 614 feet MSL and the drop off over the falls descending to as low as 167 feet below that; indicating an MSL altitude of 447 feet. In the future I shall also contact transport canada before any flights over the horseshoe falls; even if the flight begins and ends in united states airspace.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A UAS pilot realized after a flight over the Horseshoe Falls portion of Niagara Falls that he may have inadvertently flown into Canadian Airspace. Also; the UAS postflight altitude indicated greater than 400 ft because the 167 ft waterfall drop off made the aircraft appear higher than the preflight calibrated altitude.
Narrative: I hold two FAA ratings: Part 61 Private Pilot ASEL and Part 107 Remote Pilot; small Unmanned Aircraft System. I carefully researched flying a small unmanned aircraft system over Niagara Falls weeks before this flight. Pilot safely and legally launched; and subsequently landed; a drone (UAS) from the New York State side of the Falls with most of the flight taking place over the American Falls; also located on the New York State side. While in the course of this carefully planned; and safe; controlled flight over Niagara Falls; pilot failed to recognize the exact part of the airspace over the Horseshoe Falls that is actually in Canadian Airspace. This was realized after the flight was concluded and verified with mapping on the DJI Go app; which records the sequence of flight. Also; it is believed the altitudes indicated during flight were not accurate even after the UAS was properly calibrated over a grass surface. Some of the recorded altitudes indicate higher than 400 AGL and believe this may be a composite measurement of the launch point altitude of 614 feet MSL and the drop off over the falls descending to as low as 167 feet below that; indicating an MSL altitude of 447 feet. In the future I shall also contact Transport Canada before any flights over the Horseshoe Falls; even if the flight begins and ends in United States Airspace.
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.