tda!, the Edinburgh digital agency, wanted aerials of London’s red buses and landmarks, and marked the list on a map: Tower Bridge, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Bridge, the London Eye and St Paul’s. Their drone operator, Ella Goldsmith of EGOLD MEDIA, chose to fly from the river: it made the shoot easier and safer, and it put the landmarks in front of the camera.
Before the day
Central London’s river sits in restricted airspace, so the flight needed permission from NATS, the Port of London Authority and the London Eye’s operator. Ella secured them, and we helped her through the PLA application and wrote the risk assessment for flying from our boat.
On the day
We met Ella early on Saturday 11 July and ran the safety briefing on board: lifejackets, launch and recovery from the deck, and who keeps watch for traffic while the drone is up. Then we called the Met Police’s Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection team (PaDP) for permission to fly.
We boarded our RIB just east of Greenwich and ran up to the City at 30 knots, on the stretch where our PLA certificate allows it, then on to the London Eye at the 12-knot limit. From there we worked our way downriver, past Blackfriars and St Paul’s to Tower Bridge, holding position for each shot on the list as we went. The flying window was 7am to 9am, set by the permissions, and the red buses were running by the end of it.
Then we headed back east, and Ella was off home to Scotland. It was a pleasure working with her.
