Recreational / Hobbyist UAS pilot reported flying in controlled airspace without authorization. Reporter stated that due to time pressure they had not checked preflight apps for airspace restrictions.

Date: 2023-10 · Aircraft: DJI Mavic 3 · Phase: cruise

Anomalies: airspace-violation-all-types|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-published-material-policy|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-far|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-unauthorized-flight-operations-uas

Synopsis

Recreational / Hobbyist UAS pilot reported flying in controlled airspace without authorization. Reporter stated that due to time pressure they had not checked preflight apps for airspace restrictions.

Narrative

We are traveling down the river by boat and trying to document our travels as we go. We came upon an anchorage that I wanted to get some video of; right as we were passing a large tow boat with multiple barges. Between monitoring my wife at the helm; staying cognizant of the passing tow; and my haste to get the drone in the air before the opportunity passed - I neglected to check my preflight apps for any airspace restrictions. As it turn out; I was flying the drone in the far northeast reaches of ZZZ's airspace. There were no air traffic conflicts that I am aware of. My DJI remote gave no indication that I was about to operate close to an airport (I do not use it as a sole source; also B4UFly and AutoPylot). I discovered my mistake on AutoPylot afterward; and also found that LAANC Auto Approval is not active for that airport. Task saturation and self-imposed time limitations were major factors; as well as complacency as there had been no airspace restrictions in the past 90 miles of our travels. Going forward; I will place higher priority on checking the apps for restriction and not allow myself to fly when my attention is divided elsewhere.

Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.