Opinion: Pictures from the Flight Deck?

Some of my favorite content is photos and videos from up in the sky. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a key part of my interest in aviation.

As we know from my previous newsletter, I got into aviation from living under the approach path into KSDL. When I started getting interested in flying, my Instagram feed began to fill with videos of pilots flying airplanes, from C172s to A380s, shooting approaches in bad weather to dancing in the clouds during sunrise and beautiful VFR flying in the islands. It was a main avenue that inspired me to pursue flying.

However, there are numerous people who believe this is dangerous. Some believe the FAA is included in that bucket. FAR 91.13 discusses “careless or reckless operations” of an aircraft, which is pretty broad if you ask me.

In my opinion, there are a lot of factors to consider. The immediate ones that come to mind are:

1. What experience level do you have?

2. What is the setup for capturing the content?

3. What operation are you flying?

Experience is integral to safety. Seeing the videos that come out of students on their first solo resulting in detrimental errors comes to mind. My chief at the flight school would highlight, “often times the student reaches first for the camera to shut it off before they do anything else. This shows that during their flight they are focused on the camera and not flying the aircraft.”

I completely agree with this. There’s no room for a student solo to be flying with a video camera in the flight deck. Their only concern should be for safe operation of their aircraft.

The setup of the camera determines if you are distracted and focusing on the angles or if you are flying the aircraft. One of the content creators that comes to mind is Fly Me To The Fun. Every piece of content that comes from this boyfriend and girlfriend duo is captured from a solidified position in the flight deck, meaning the cameras are setup prior to preflight, turned on, and forgotten about.

Lastly, are you a part 91 owner operators, or do you fly passengers in a 135/121 operation? Part 91 flying has a lot more leeway for what is allowed while passenger operations in the 121 or 135 sphere has to consider the company operational requirements. However, something to consider for part 91 is regulation 91.21 regarding portable electronic devices as well as the reckless or careless operation regulation mentioned above. The FAA leaves the use of ANY electronic device in the flight deck in any operation up to the decision of the PIC of the aircraft, which can also leave it open to other people’s interpretation too.

Ultimately, I believe that if a pilot wants to create content, there is a way to do it safely. This is how we encourage others to pursue their aviation dreams by building a story that shows what we experience and why we love it. However, if you do want to create this content, you should probably have multiple people review it first and confirm that your operational procedures are up to snuff and you are demonstrating safe decisions. One of the accounts I believe does it GREAT is Ivan (@Iluciani), a G650 Captain.

As we know, what’s posted on the internet never dies. Make sure that you are correctly demonstrating safe operation of aircraft by the regulations and operate the aircraft as stated in your POH.

What do you think? Do cameras belong in the flight deck?