Readback: June 2015

I read your editorial The Drones Are Here with interest. You asked the question When was the last time you flew below 400 feet away from an airport? My answer is: yesterday.As a seaplane pilot, I do this all the time over bodies of water. So do thousands of other seaplane and helicopter pilots. There is no way on earth that we would ever be able to see and avoid these tiny toy aircraft-at least not in time for the avoid part-and for sure, their untrained operators would not be likely to anticipate and avoid us. It is not a matter of if, but when someone will be killed by these dangerous drone operations. I guess our lives are less important than the interests of hundreds of thousands of drone hobbyists.

Key Takeaways:

• A seaplane pilot raises concerns about low-flying drones posing a significant, unavoidable collision risk to manned aircraft, particularly seaplanes and emergency helicopters, prompting a call for urgent FAA regulation.
• The article explains that Garmin navigators (e.g., GNS 430W) typically remove intermediate fixes when "vectors to final" is selected for decluttering purposes, offers a workaround, and notes Garmin is considering an optional software update to address this.
• It clarifies misunderstandings regarding RNAV SIDs/STARs, distinguishing between leg MEAs and fix restrictions, and emphasizing that pilot compliance with ATC assigned altitudes always takes precedence over charted procedure altitudes, especially without a "descend via" clearance.

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