Why Won't the Washington Nationals Fight the FAA On Drones?

Last month, the Washington Nationals and famous sports photographer Donald Miralle experimented with flying a drone over spring training. It was a fun way to showcase how drones could revolutionize sports photography. Of course, the Federal Aviation Administration put a stop to it, according to the Associated Press.

That outcome could have been predicted by anyone (and was predicted, by me, for the record), as the Federal Aviation Administration continues its completely baseless vendetta against anyone who dares use miniature remote control aircraft to take pictures for profit. The Nationals probably have better things to worry about at this stage of spring training than fighting a federal agency (like what they’re going to do with Danny Espinosa, and does Matt Williams have any idea what he’s doing as a manager?), but it’s still disappointing to see them being so very spineless.

@jason_koebler @abeaujon They wouldn't even need to fight it. FAA has no tools in it's legal arsenal to stop them. They need only ignore FAA

— Peter Sachs, Esq. (@TheDroneGuy) March 18, 2014

As Sachs, a lawyer in Connecticut focusing on drone law suggested, the Nats didn’t really have to do anything to fight this. All they had to do was keep flying and there was nothing the FAA could do to stop them.

At the time, the legality of commercial drones was somewhat up in the air as we were still waiting to hear whether a federal judge would uphold a fine the agency was trying to levy against a drone pilot who had flown them commercially. Even then, the FAA had no formal regulations against commercial drone use, just meaningless, voluntary policy statements. In the weeks since, the FAA has lost its case and others, like the flower delivery service the agency asked to stop flying earlier this year, have returned to the air.

The FAA tried (unsuccessfully) to fine a drone pilot who flew his drone near cars, under an overpass, and near buildings for “reckless flying.” The Nationals flew above their baseball complex, which they own, which is surrounded by nothing but expanses of parking lots and is populated by players who are employees of the team. If ever there was a “private” place to fly a drone 20 feet in the air, it’s during a spring training workout.

As noted in an Associated Press story today, the team immediately stopped flying the drones soon after the press started talking about the flights.

“No, we didn’t get it cleared, but we don’t get our pop flies cleared either and those go higher than this thing did,” a team official told the AP.

That’s a shame, and it’s more evidence that big companies, whether it’s Amazon, the Nationals, or Northrop Grumman, aren’t going to go against the FAA’s wishes even when the FAA’s wishes aren’t laws. The revolution is coming, but it’s coming from small town flower deliverers and independent wedding photographers. Big business is content not to ruffle any feathers. And that's a shame, because right now, the door is cracked—someone needs to have the guts to knock it down.