Narrative:

I was operating a drone under part 107 collecting aerial photographs of a timber harvest area. I had filed a uas operating area report with flight services in an effort to warn air traffic I would be operating in the area; the altitude I would be at; and the exact times of operation. We also had a hand held VHF aviation radio turned on and operating on 122.9 frequency. A visual observer was also on site and fully briefed. Approximately 15 SM [from] btr the drone was operating at 375 ft AGL flying a grid pattern over [area we were to photograph]. I was facing south maintaining visual contact with the drone; my visual observer was facing north in my blind spot; the drone was 692 ft laterally from my location. The visual observer yelled out an aircraft sighting report; I turned to look and saw a cessna 172 flying at approximately the same altitude as the drone on what appeared to be a collision course approximately .4-.25 miles from the drones position. The cessna pilot did not seem to see the drone; he was operating at or below 500 ft in my estimation; and was obscured from view on the ground behind a tree line until he cleared the trees. We did not hear his engine until after he cleared the trees. I immediately took evasive action; reducing done altitude to ground level as fast as possible (cut the engines). The drone crash landed and did not visibly impact the cessna; the cessna continued on without visible deviation from its flight route. It is my belief that the cessna was operating as a pipeline patrol aircraft since a pipeline was in close proximity and the pilot was at such a low altitude. This was a very high potential near miss. While I was able to see and avoid the cessna it is debatable if he was able to see my drone. If the cessna pilot had filed a flight plan or called flight services I feel he should have had ample warning of my intended area of operation and flight level. As a licensed suas operator and a current student pilot I can see conflicts between low flying aircraft and drones outside controlled airspace becoming more common; especially in cases like my experience. There needs to be a better way to freely communicate drone activities with pilots and more emphasis given to pilots to check uas operating areas before they fly; especially when flying below or near 400 ft AGL.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Drone pilot operating under FAR part 107 reported a NMAC with a C172 at about 400 feet AGL. Evasive action was taken by the drone operator while the C172 pilot apparently did not detect the drone.

Narrative: I was operating a drone under Part 107 collecting aerial photographs of a timber harvest area. I had filed a UAS operating area report with Flight Services in an effort to warn air traffic I would be operating in the area; the altitude I would be at; and the exact times of operation. We also had a hand held VHF aviation radio turned on and operating on 122.9 frequency. A visual observer was also on site and fully briefed. Approximately 15 SM [from] BTR the drone was operating at 375 ft AGL flying a grid pattern over [area we were to photograph]. I was facing south maintaining visual contact with the drone; my visual observer was facing north in my blind spot; the drone was 692 ft laterally from my location. The visual observer yelled out an aircraft sighting report; I turned to look and saw a Cessna 172 flying at approximately the same altitude as the drone on what appeared to be a collision course approximately .4-.25 miles from the drones position. The Cessna pilot did not seem to see the drone; he was operating at or below 500 ft in my estimation; and was obscured from view on the ground behind a tree line until he cleared the trees. We did not hear his engine until after he cleared the trees. I immediately took evasive action; reducing done altitude to ground level as fast as possible (cut the engines). The drone crash landed and did not visibly impact the Cessna; the Cessna continued on without visible deviation from its flight route. It is my belief that the Cessna was operating as a pipeline patrol aircraft since a pipeline was in close proximity and the pilot was at such a low altitude. This was a VERY high potential near miss. While I was able to see and avoid the Cessna it is debatable if he was able to see my drone. If the Cessna pilot had filed a flight plan or called flight services I feel he should have had ample warning of my intended area of operation and flight level. As a licensed sUAS operator and a current student pilot I can see conflicts between low flying aircraft and drones outside controlled airspace becoming more common; especially in cases like my experience. There needs to be a better way to freely communicate drone activities with pilots and more emphasis given to pilots to check UAS operating areas before they fly; especially when flying below or near 400 ft AGL.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.