What if your booked drone flight cannot go ahead?

Agree before the event what happens if the drone cannot fly. That means two things: the backup coverage that keeps your film complete, and how the quote treats the drone item. Ask for both in writing before you book.

Why can a booked flight stop?

Drone footage is conditional. Any one of these can stop a flight, and none of them is a sign that something was done badly:

• Approval: CAAM asks for standard applications at least 14 working days before the activity, and Sabah and Sarawak need additional authorisation. It may not come in time or at all.
• The venue: it may refuse flying on its grounds, or limit where.
• Weather: rain, wind or poor visibility on the day.
• Crowds and surroundings: the operator may judge the area unsafe once people arrive.
• Technical or safety reasons: the operator can decide not to fly.

Our guides on lead time and crowds and restricted areas cover the first and fourth in more detail.

What happens in each case?

This table is a way to think about the agreement, not a fixed policy. Your quote sets the real terms.

What backup coverage should the quote name?

Specific shots, not a general promise to do our best:

1. An elevated ground position for a wide view of the venue.
2. A wide establishing shot of the entrance or stage.
3. A moving shot along the main path of arrival or procession.
4. Existing aerial footage, clearly labelled, if you have the right to use it. See reusing existing aerial footage.

The weather and venue-change filming plan is useful for the weather case.

What to put in the agreement

• Who applies for approval, and by what date you must give venue details.
• The deadline by which you will be told if the flight is off.
• The backup shots, written down.
• How the drone item is treated if it cannot proceed, as a line in the quote.
• Whether a second attempt is possible, and on what terms.
• Whether the flight can move earlier or later on the same day. If weather is the risk, a short window often saves the shot, and the run sheet decides if there is room.

Our videography booking scope checklist helps you keep these in one place, and event drone footage explains how drone fits into a quote.

A worked example

This is an illustrative example.

A hotel launch is planned with a drone shot of the building at dusk. The venue agrees, but on the evening it is windy and the operator decides not to fly. Because the backup was agreed, the film already has a raised exterior shot from the car park and a wide view from the entrance. The launch film is complete, and the quote already says how the drone item was handled.

Without that agreement, the same evening would leave a gap in the film and an argument about the quote.