SAFA Skysailor Magazine

39 AUTUMN 2025 | March-April-May SKY SAILOR Let’s just picture that for a minute. Imagine the outcry if a world- famous, historically significant flying site such as Bald Hill was lost to us as a free-flying site all because of an unlawful or unautho- rised flight operation that went wrong. It would reverberate around the world! Which leads us to what to do if you become aware of unau- thorised or unlawful operations occurring. What can you do if you see someone flying unauthorised or posing a risk? As a first step, we’re not insisting you dob them in, if you are comfortable doing so, approach them and ask them what they’re doing. Point out to them the risk they are placing themselves in, the risk to others as well as the risk to site usage. If you aren’t comfortable with this approach, or don’t get a reasonable response – e.g., ‘sorry, won’t do it again’, ‘I will go get the proper authorisation’, etc. – then you should tell the club’s safety officers and let the club pursue the matter. If the individuals continue to engage in unlawful flying or pose a genuine risk to themselves or the public, you can gather evidence (such as footage) and report the incident to the appropriate authorities (e.g., by calling the police). Additionally, you have the option of reporting the matter to the SAFA ops@safa.asn.au .