Doug Bainton - FDNY Pilot and Emergency Management Coordinator

Doug Bainton is a public safety drone pilot with a unique background and skill set. Not only has he been a New York City firefighter for 17 years but he had various important roles with the FDNY Disaster Assistance Response Team and has been deployed all over the place to assist with incidents and emergencies. Doug is currently assigned as the Citywide Interagency Coordinator and a public safety Part 107 pilot for New York City Emergency Management. In this episode we cover the following topics:The force multiplier power of manned and unmanned aviation in disaster responses.Getting drone teams in the right place with information to access the areas they need to get to.Why it is important for different types of aviation assets to work together. How to gain an honest perspective of an actual disaster to get the right picture rather than conclusions.Advice and experience in getting manned and unmanned aviation to fly together.Teamwork is the critical skill needed to get past public safety drama so we can all work together.Flying together with other agencies is a right-of-way situation.How to say no to a flight that is not safe or regulation compliant.And then how to professionally decline an unsafe flight request. Why crazy is a real way to deal with problems and situations at times.Lessons learned the hard way.The one thing I wish I knew before becoming a drone pilot.Why a daily preflight is critical to safe flight. How to turn on the pilot-only brain when starting to fly.