On Christmas morning, hundreds of folks all over town will unwrap one of the most requested gifts of the year - a remote- controlled flying drone. The lucky recipients will head out to their backyards or local parks, turn their new toys on, and promptly break the law.
That was the word from a panel of federal aviation officials and local law enforcement officials Wednesday who met to talk about the growing problem of illegal drone flights in the area.
A drone operated illegally crashed into the crowd this summer at the Riverbend Festival, according to Chattanooga police officers.
"A guy was across the river flying it at night," said Lt. Austin Garrett, who coordinates special events for the police department. "We had multiple reports throughout the week of drones."
There were also several reports of drones in the air near this summer's wildfires, Garrett said, which was of concern to the helicopter and airplane pilots flying close to the ground to drop water on the flames.
Erlanger hospital officials worry about the risk of a drone colliding with one of its Life Force helicopters that ferry patients and medical crews from around Southeast Tennessee and North Georgia to the main hospital on Third Street.
"When an aircraft is coming in for a landing at a heliport, it is the most critical time for them," a former military pilot told the group. "If they are looking down, they are not going to see that thing until it is right there; it is going to catch them by surprise."
Officials in Nashville even had a report of a souped-up drone flying at 6,500 feet, above the cloud cover and a threat to commercial aircraft.
And law enforcement officers soon may see criminals using drones to keep tabs on police.
"If Johnny down the street has one, it won't be long before the bad guys will be using one to see law enforcement officers going around the corner," said Rocky Davidson, an aviation safety inspector with the Federal Aviation Administration.
The FAA requires all drones to be registered - something that won't be possible this Christmas morning, a Sunday.
It is illegal to fly them higher than 400 feet, or over people, according to Davidson. They must remain within the operator's sight, which means the operator cannot fly them remotely just by looking at the view from the camera on board.
It is also illegal to fly them at night, Davidson said, or within five miles of an airport or three miles of a heliport. That puts much of downtown Chattanooga off limits, given Erlanger's heliport on Third Street and Lovell Field's location between Highway 153, Shallowford Road and Lee Highway.
Law enforcement or emergency agencies must register their drones, but they can get an exemption from some of the rules. For example, the Hamilton County Sheriff's Department is allowed to fly its five drones over people and at night. The sheriff's department drones were used recently when Chattanooga police were searching for a man who shot a police officer.
Drones always must yield to manned aircraft. When a Tennessee Highway Patrol manned helicopter joined the search for the police shooting suspect, the sheriff's department grounded its drones, spokesman Matt Lea said.
Davidson said it's also illegal to operate a drone for commercial purposes without a permit, and the definition of "commercial" is broad.
"If you have a [drone] and take photos of the beautiful mountains and put them on a website to boost your photo business, that is commercial," he said.
The FAA could fine people operating drones illegally, while local law enforcement officers could charge them under noise ordinances or under invasion of privacy or reckless endangerment laws, Davidson said.
He and the other law enforcement and emergency responders at Wednesday's meeting agreed that the rules for drones will continue to evolve as the remotely controlled aircraft become more powerful and less expensive.
The FAA estimates 160,000 drones have been sold in Tennessee, and that figure is certain to increase significantly on Christmas day.
"We did not expect the implosion of the air space to these quote unquote toys," Davidson said.
Contact staff writer Steve Johnson at 423-757-6673, sjohnson@timesfreepress.com, on Twitter @stevejohnsonTFP, and on Facebook, www.facebook.com/noogahealth.