We all know the restrictions on taking pictures for profit, but is taking pictures for pleasure whilst piloting an SEP frowned upon, because it is a distraction from flying?
I can think of all sorts of ways in which one might practically come a cropper – unusual attitudes; loss of situational awareness; lack of lookout. But assuming one is sensible and takes a quick photo when not overloaded and after a good look-out for traffic, is this something that 1) can be done acceptably safely and 2) even if safe, is it likely to get us into legal trouble?
I had always taken it for granted that it was commonplace, but now I am second-guessing myself.
Doing so is legal, as long as it does not detract from flying safely. There are commercial considerations which may limit what you do with the photos, but taking them safely is not an issue. That said, two extremes:
A friend of mine was a retired RAF Hunter pilot. He and his buddy got a job ferrying 24 for of them (12 trips each) to India. He had Super 8 movies he had taken during the ferry flights. One, very memorably, was air to air of his buddy, in formation, turning long final. You see flaps come down, gear come down, the end of the runway slip under his buddy’s plane, his buddy’s plane touches down gently, as does his, they roll out, and turn off the runway, all beautifully filmed on Super 8. “Bill” I ask, “Isn’t the Hunter a single seat plane?”. “Yes, it is”. “well then how did you land a jet fighter while filming your buddy?”. “I just did what he did….”
On the other hand, CAVU day in British Colombia, a pilot who was accountable to me, flying a very highly modified and very expensively equipped research Cessna Turbo 207, somehow manages to crash into a slope, and kill himself. How’d he do that? Lots of room around him to maneuver, lots of power, lots of fuel, perfect weather! The coroner’s report said that he had a camera around his neck. I knew him to take photos while flying. My science observers complained he was doing it while he was flying them for science work. I told him to stop. This was his first solo flight (a ferry flight back to me), so I guess he figured he could take photos, and no one would know/care. It ended in the worst way.
If; you’re going to do it (like any other elective secondary activity while you fly), just do it safely!
Pilot_DAR wrote:
If; you’re going to do it (like any other elective secondary activity while you fly), just do it safely!
I think that is pretty much the essence of it. Do it safely.
It’s a huge difference if you have a “point and click” device and shoot a few pics to be looked at later or if you use a highly complex camera which needs manual adjusting. And of course it depends on the phase of flight and if you deviate from the flight path to take pics.
I’ve taken pics since ever I fly, but mostly in cruise and either on AP or in really quiet phases of flight. In recent times practically only by phone or with a fully automated camera which is point and click. If I wanted pics during landing or so, I’d mount the cam on a fixed stand and just let it snap away and then pick the one I’d use later.
kwlf wrote:
We all know the restrictions on taking pictures for profit
I don’t. What are they?
They are ridiculous in many countries nowadays.
But from the air you might need to be a CPL to set out to take pictures with the purpose of receiving money for them.
Trying to be careful with wording here as it is possible to take a picture from the air and sell it as long as you didn’t set out to do it. But the dividing line for this might be different under different NAAs.
@gallois, that is interesting.
I understand this will come under aerial work rules. But as my aviation lawyer says, this wasn’t designed for “today’s” times. For example, what’s the difference between photos and videos? And if none, how can anyone post an aviation video on YouTube and risk geting a few pences from monetization.
Or, like in my case (a podcast), can I use audio recorded in my cockpit for my podcast?
These are rhetorical questions :)
@Fernando I am glad you said it was a rhetorical question as I cannot answer it.🙂
You might get away with it I can’t or more accurately couldn’t.🙂
I remember doing a job for a UK tv company just after a change in the law.
The PA had to hand out waiver forms to everyone in the street and if they didn’t sign we had to edit them out of shot or blurr their faces. The laws just became a nightmare. Some of them would be laughable if they weren’t so serious.😟
Aerial photography legality debate
The issue of not paying attention while taking photos is something I have never heard of raised legally, in the SEP context. There have however been some mid-airs where someone (probably or actually) taking photos while orbiting at low level was a factor; I recall some AAIB reports on this topic.
With the huge exposure on YT I am sure if there was any prosecution, we would have heard about it by now. Prosecution is a criminal matter and they have to prove BRD that you were flying dangerously, which is IMHO impossible. And everybody posting videos on YT can be accused of trying to moneytise it.
Obviously an autopilot makes that dramatically easier in practice, but in low level messing about you are probably not using an autopilot.
I don’t think waiver forms apply to aerial photos 
No waiver forms do not apply to aerial photography and would be quite difficult to apply😁
However, if you have passengers and you publish their images for profit, you should really have a signed waiver. Once you have published it is not easy to go back if the passenger objects to your use of their image for profit.
However, I rather hoped that my comment would not be taken too literally but as an example of the complications of taking photographs or videos for profit these days.
Recording ATC or other pilots moved here
Please note this thread is about the pilot distraction aspect. It takes me about 5-10 mins to move posts around.
if you have passengers and you publish their images for profit, you should really have a signed waiver. Once you have published it is not easy to go back if the passenger objects to your use of their image for profit.
I would regard using pics or audio of passengers as extremely discourteous! Unless they positively want to be presented…
