Recreational / Hobbyist UAS pilot reported conducting a UAS flight in controlled airspace without authorization.

Date: 2026-02 · Aircraft: DJI Mavic 4 Pro · Phase: cruise

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

Synopsis

Recreational / Hobbyist UAS pilot reported conducting a UAS flight in controlled airspace without authorization.

Narrative

So I had a strange; interesting; and confusing situation on Day 0; between XA00 and XD:00pm. No harm or no foul has arisen from this situation; But I feel I obviously need to report it. So up in Location X here; there is an area just to the north of Location X that puts on an event.I brought one of my drones; to make a little video for myself; and social media. Before going to this event - I have seen multiple previous drone and aerial videos of this exact event; at the same location; from not only this year; but from years past; and multiple media sources. All available and visible on their website. I was not operating in a commercial capacity; strictly for unpaid; personal social media content; If it matters. So once I was out on Location X I opened up my app; I have multiple apps; but mainly use Drone Buddy; because it shows humidity; wind stats; sunrise sunset all relevant information and airspace conditions. So I checked my app and everything was in the clear. When I fired up my Mavic 4 Pro; no warnings no nothing outside the norm. So I put up to the south of Location X; recorded a 13 minute hyperlapse; a couple low altitude short videos and pics - all of the rest of the media that I acquired during my time on Location X was taken with a handheld stabilizer camera. I am very worried that I ended up putting my drone up in restricted airspace potentially? I am very worried i did something wrong.I am a proud US citizen with a profound love and respect for our military.I got no warnings; no notifications on my drone or software. Got no warnings or notifications on my drone buddy app. Nothing.I had no idea how close I was to Location Y until we left; heading north; towards Location Z. When I got to the stop sign and I realized that I had only driven a couple miles and I'm looking at equipment behind a fence. I know something isn't right. To start off with me and my wife went down to Location X for lunch first. I had no idea how close I was to Location Y. Immediately upon seeing how close i was to Location Y I pulled over by the new structure being built; located the authority for the airspace; and called Person A; to see if there's anything I need to do; tried calling multiple times and left a message - before i left the area; headed for home.So I'm self-reporting this incident which I feel is the correct thing to do here. Obviously the last thing I want is any sort of trouble or problems.upon returning home - home; i researched what i need to do; immediately. I think i may have panicked for no reason - according to everything i can find here - i was not in RESTRICTED AIRSPACE; but warning space.Being an MOA - WITH NO VISIBLE air traffic whatsoever - I think I'm ok? The Before You Fly app shows that the area I was over - directly over Location X - is well outside the restricted area. So my initial panic set in; when we left Location X; heading back towards Location Z... And seeing a fence line with equipment on the other side was deeply troubling. So I then checked what multiple FlySafe and Before you Fly apps show - I have now triple checks here on my Before You Fly app on Mavic 4 pro; and Mini 5 Pro controllers - it shows the area of Location X I was flying over is free and clear; with the immediate base showing as restricted.On my Matrice 4t controller - it shows the overall area being a warning zone; with the immediate Location Y being an enhanced warning zone.All 3 controllers are reading that there is no Restricted Zone where I was.i have pulled up the immediate area over Location X on both forms of the FAA airspace maps - both show that - I feel somewhat confident I did not encroach into any area i was not allowed to fly. I am still sending this - because it is the right and true thing to do; to make you aware.Hope all is well - and i hope you see i take this very seriously. The last thing i ever want to do is be out of compliance in any way.

NASA callback

Reporter had no additional information to share.

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