NASA · Aviation Safety Reporting System
UAS pilot reported they unknowingly flew their UAS into a TFR. Reporter stated there were no TFRs prior to launch and the TFR became active during the flight.
What is ASRS?
The Aviation Safety Reporting System is NASA's voluntary, confidential, non- punitive incident-reporting system, established 1976. Pilots, controllers, dispatchers, and maintenance technicians file reports describing safety- relevant events. NASA de-identifies every report before adding it to the public database. Reports are not investigated by NASA, the FAA, or the NTSB — they represent the reporter's perspective.
Pilot narrative
Verbatim from the de-identified NASA record. First-person account by the
reporter. NASA strips identifying details (names, company, specific time);
anonymization placeholders are ZZZ,
X, Y.
Got prior authorization through the Aloft App. Confirmed no TFR on B4Ufly app. Flight started at XA:45am. TFR went into effect at XB:00am. I landed at XB:24am and unknowingly violated the TFR as flight was in progress when TFR went into effect. I checked two official sources and the DJI geofence did not notify when a TFR went up. I made every attempt to fly legally. There were no active fire operations, no active air operations and the airspace was clear of all aircraft. Upon realization, I opted to self report.
Analyst callback
ASRS analysts occasionally follow up with reporters by phone. These are the paraphrased additional notes from those conversations.
Reporter stated they looked at B4UFLY and the DJI app prior to launch to check for TFRs and NOTAMs. There were none showing at the time of launch nor planned in the several hours after the launch. Several hours after landing the UAS, the Pilot learned of the TFR. The UAS Pilot spoke with the FAA and learned the TFR was issued directly from a nearby ATC Tower and this is why it wasn't posted prior to becoming active.
NASA classification — Anomalies
- Airspace Violation
- Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural
NASA classification — Assessments
- Contributing Factors / Situations
- Chart Or Publication · Procedure
- Primary Problem
- Ambiguous
ASRS reports are voluntarily submitted, de-identified by NASA, and represent the reporter's perspective. The presence of reports on a topic cannot be used to infer prevalence in the National Airspace System. The authoritative source is the NASA ASRS Database Online at asrs.arc.nasa.gov ↗.