"Peter Duniho" wrote in message
...
"Gary Drescher" wrote in message
news:3CB5d.162328$3l3.128083@attbi_s03...
If you have a camera with you (in your cell phone, for example), you can
take a picture from which the plane's altitude might be derived.

Might, but probably not. Most of the time, if the airplane is close
enough to provide a good distance reference based on apparent size, the
photo won't be able to include any ground reference with which to
correlate and determine an angle.

True, but 1) the photographer can look at the camera and provide a
reasonable estimate of its angle (since we're not talking here about the
photograph as a source of proof that the photographer didn't lie; rather,
we're just concerned with the possibility of an erroneous impression of
distance); and 2) if a plane is really passing nearby at 500' AGL, then its
distance from the camera will be less than 1000' AGL over a wide range of
angles. Hence, the distance alone may be enough to establish that the plane
was flying illegally low, irrespective of the angle.

--Gary