Part 107 UAS pilot report flying a photo mission when they were distracted by tourists. This caused the UAS pilot to fly higher than authorized and past their LAANC authorized time.
Synopsis
Part 107 UAS pilot report flying a photo mission when they were distracted by tourists. This caused the UAS pilot to fly higher than authorized and past their LAANC authorized time.
Narrative
On Day 0 myself; was flying my drone over Beverly Hills; CA for a commercial photo mission. I had authorization to fly at XB:45 pm up to 400 ft. for 1hr as per LAANC ALTXXXXXXXXX authorization and a LAANC Authorization ALTXXXXXXXXY to fly up to 200 ft. starting at XA:13pm for 2hrs.But due to my own negligence I started to climb up to 400 ft. at XA:38pm for 1 minute and then descended back down to 200 ft. and did the same maneuver at XA:38pm for 1 minute. I was distracted by some tourists who asked about my mission and while explaining things to them; pointing out the drone and letting them see my monitor; I didn't pay attention to the fact that my clearance for 400 ft. was only given after XB:45pm and I started climbing above the permitted altitude of 200 ft. for that time frame.I discovered it when I started my dusk shoot at XC:00 pm by recalling my XB:45pm authorization.There was no aircraft traffic in the area and I was mainly flying over buildings; so no real safety concerns arose. I had visual line-of-sight to my drone at all times.What I learned from this situation was that I should not let myself get distracted by curious people when flying a drone.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.