Uav operator reported thinking he was cleared via a waiver to operate within ont airspace; but after...

Narrative:

I responded to an incident. I checked the airspace I was going to launch the uas mavic drone and I was in ontario airport's class C airspace. I made the proper phone calls to obtain a waiver to fly no more than 200 feet to take aerial photos and video. When I received the phone call back with information that a waiver was submitted and notified them I had a vo (visual observer) for this flight of no more than .25 mile radius. I performed approximately a 10 minute flight over the incident and never exceeded 150 feet in altitude. After my flight; I received a phone call back that they were still waiting for approval from the FAA to obtain the waiver. I then informed that I was completed with the flight over derailment and then realized the waiver was not approved at the time of flight. There was communication failure on the waiver and the pilot misunderstood that the waiver that was submitted was not a clearance for flight. We have learned that the actual waiver must be printed and obtained with the drone pilot before the flight and contact with the ATC must take place with a 10 minute wait before takeoff after notifying the airport and that the waiver is in hand.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: UAV Operator reported thinking he was cleared via a waiver to operate within ONT airspace; but after the flight determined the waiver had never been obtained.

Narrative: I responded to an incident. I checked the airspace I was going to launch the UAS Mavic Drone and I was in Ontario Airport's Class C airspace. I made the proper phone calls to obtain a waiver to fly no more than 200 feet to take aerial photos and video. When I received the phone call back with information that a waiver was submitted and notified them I had a VO (visual observer) for this flight of no more than .25 mile radius. I performed approximately a 10 minute flight over the incident and never exceeded 150 feet in altitude. After my flight; I received a phone call back that they were still waiting for approval from the FAA to obtain the waiver. I then informed that I was completed with the flight over derailment and then realized the waiver was not approved at the time of flight. There was communication failure on the waiver and the pilot misunderstood that the waiver that was submitted was not a clearance for flight. We have learned that the actual waiver must be printed and obtained with the drone pilot before the flight and contact with the ATC must take place with a 10 minute wait before takeoff after notifying the airport and that the waiver is in hand.

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.

Attributes
ACN	1527986
Time
Date	201803
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ONT.Airport
State Reference	CA
Environment
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	UAV - Unpiloted Aerial Vehicle
Operating Under FAR Part	Other 107
Flight Phase	Cruise
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying
Events
Anomaly	Airspace Violation All Types Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Deviation - Procedural FAR

Uav operator reported thinking he was cleared via a waiver to operate within ont airspace; but after the flight determined the waiver had never been obtained.