FAA Hopes to Send Message with $1.9 Million Penalty Against Drone Photographer

By | October 7, 2015

  • October 7, 2015 at 2:07 pm
    Agent says:
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    Drone operators are out of control and think they can do whatever they want. This is a good penalty and maybe they will think twice. Privately, we have seen drones shot down by private citizens. Some have been arrested and fined because they were inside the city limits. I saw a story today that another was shot down in rural Louisiana. It was buzzing around 20′ above a guys property. He was out squirrel hunting so he shot it down. Nothing the drone guy can do about it. He is a clown and he deserved to lose it.

  • October 7, 2015 at 2:09 pm
    Dave says:
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    Seems a little steep? Nobody hurt. Nothing damaged. Was anybody or anything ever put in real danger? Does not cigarette smoking cause much more verifiable damage than these guys did? Just wondering.

    • October 7, 2015 at 2:20 pm
      Old Lawyer says:
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      The remark about cigarette smoke reminds me of the success I had as a child when telling my Dad that one of my friends had acted worse that whatever I was currently being punished for doing. NOT MUCH Success.

    • October 7, 2015 at 2:55 pm
      Agent says:
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      So Dave, what if a Terrorist rigged up a drone with C-4, sent it off into the path of an airliner on approach to an airport and it was ingested into an engine and blew the plane up? Any real danger to that? How about sending one into a sports stadium and crashing it into fans? My point is that drone operators are out of control and about anyone can buy one to do bad things with it.

      • October 8, 2015 at 9:00 am
        confused says:
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        let’s ban toy helicopters while we’re at it since they can do the same damage as the drone did in your hypothetical scenario

      • October 8, 2015 at 9:29 am
        Dave says:
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        Good point Agent, but I doubt any new regulation or fine will prevent such terrorists from committing such a crime. Living in Chicago I’ll compare it to the city having some of the toughest gun control laws in the world yet still having some of the worst gun violence. There may be other ways to prevent such things. One idea I’ve heard is requiring drone manufacturers to embed in more sophisticated drones software that will not allow them to fly in no-fly zones. My fear with that is won’t smart terrorists find a way to defeat that? Not sure. What these guys did however was not intended to harm anybody, nor did it. I guess rules about when such flights can be made makes sense. Also living in Chicago I’ve seen huge antennas put on top of Willis and John Hancock Towers and a huge spire put on top of Trump Tower via helicopter which in my mind was much more dangerous than a 10 pound drone taking pictures in Manhattan.

        I wonder what the insurance industry had to say about this? Did they insure it? How did they evaluate the risk.

        • October 8, 2015 at 9:40 am
          Agent says:
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          Hey Dave, before I forget it, congratulations on your Cubs success this season. I don’t get to see them much, but from what I have been able to see, it looks like they have the youth, enthusiasm and talent to go somewhere in the post season. They sure took care of the Pirates in the wild card game. I think they have waited long enough, don’t you? Joe Madden is a great manager as well.

      • October 12, 2015 at 8:02 pm
        UW says:
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        So, Agent, I assume you would extend the same logic to guns, which are not a hypothetical threat, but actually kill thousands of people in the US each year?

  • October 7, 2015 at 2:13 pm
    John says:
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    Yeah, good luck with that. Might as well make it all the money in the world, it wont get paid. Drones are not going away, they are cheap and incredibly effective at what they do. We have laws for everything and the bad folks will break the laws, but the laws have to be fair and legitimate.

  • October 7, 2015 at 2:53 pm
    UW Supreme says:
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    I understand that regulations need to be adopted, but this is a legitimate enterprise that provides a pivotal service to the construction industry. $1.9M is asinine and egregious.

    I feel like a broken record by using the term egregious when it comes to rulings or fines by the government, but this is insane.

    This company is exhibiting innovation and American ingenuity at it’s finest, and their operations should not be restricted by a federal agency that consists of officials who have never risked their own money in business or held a real job in their entire lives.

    When will the government actually start working with new business operators instead of working against them?

  • October 7, 2015 at 2:58 pm
    Crain says:
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    Can anyone say scapegoat? I want to punish the offenders who put their drones in the flight patterns as well. I don’t think there are many flights in between high rise buildings downtown.
    Maybe the FAA should figure out how to add quick identity features to these drones so legitimate businessmen and women can operate openly. Having an open website where flights could be quickly registered would make an operation like this easy to manage.

    • October 7, 2015 at 4:20 pm
      Agent says:
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      Crain, we already have Police Helicopters and a number of private helicopters buzzing around major cities between and above buildings. Don’t you think the air space is going to be a bit conjested?

  • October 7, 2015 at 4:44 pm
    Debbie says:
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    Hey Dave, consider this…. if you live in a wildfire area and the planes can’t get in to save your place because of a drone do you think you would feel the same way? These drones are OUT of control and step fines may wake someone up to the fact that they do indeed cause danger!

    • October 8, 2015 at 9:37 am
      Dave says:
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      Understood Debbie, but this certainly was not in a wildfire area.

      Two points on that example though. 1) Some government agency could declare an area around a wildfire zone a no-fly zone for drones or any other aircraft they wish at any time they wish, and 2) I wouldn’t doubt that in the midst of a wildfire that some government agencies would use drones themselves to more quickly and more accurately assess the situation in front of them.

      I’m not saying here that reasonable regulations are not needed. Just want them to be reasonable and that this fine seems outrageous. And to be honest, I don’t think the current administration knows how to make reasonable regulations. Ask any small business owner.

      • October 8, 2015 at 9:44 am
        Agent says:
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        Dave, as I see it, the most effective use of drones would be to put them up over the southern border with sophisticated cameras to tell the border control where the illegals are crossing so they can be intercepted. It is clear that there will not be an effective fence for some time to come.

        • November 25, 2015 at 8:28 pm
          Vg says:
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          I’m all for safety and have flown r/c helicopters ,planes, for over 14 years now love aerial photographs with my drone but when Faa tells me I can fly as a hobbiest just about anywhere except not over people or above 400ft ok I get it. I’m even ok with not flying over private property without permission but when the FAA tells me if I sell that same picture I just took on private property I had permission to be on as a hobbiest under the 400ft ceiling that I’m going to need a exemption 333 and be a registered pilot now I have a problem. I’m even ok with having to take a test or file for an exemption 333 but don’t tell me I need a pilots license because that will never be followed by most of the people. Getting a exemption 333 and passing a r/c flight class is a step in the right direction. I have a drone that is programmed not to go over 400ft so make it mandatory for manufacturers to program drones not to exceed 400ft with a hard drive that records flights above that height and sends it back to the FAA the next time you have to connect to the computer to update your drone. Better yet make it mandatory to update your drone monthly and if the drone has been tampered with and gone above 400ft. Then it can be shut down If caught above that 400ft height fine that person with a heavy price if not jail time. Make it like a drivers license and that it’s a privilege to fly if you abuse it your license can be taken away and you lost your privilege to fly. Mr agent your comment on using drones for terrorists activity is another attempt to slam this technology and if that’s the case bombs can be used in just about anything with a terrorist so we should ban phones, cars, planes, backpacks, etc.
          My other question is why are large aircraft allowed to fly over civilians homes as if they pose no threat to the public. After every crash even if it’s the planes malfunction or pilot they are still allowed to fly over civilians homes with no changes from the FAA on flight paths. Should everyone start counting the plane crashes and civilian casualties from plane crashes and shut those companies down or ban commercial planes. Car companies have to meet certain requirements to make cars safe for the consumer to drive but they can’t stop the public from driving them into a crowd of people.
          I will fly my drone safe and educate everyone I see who shows interesting it. I will keep promoting this wonderful hobby and technology along with educate the people along the way. Here’s a question for the agent, let’s say I’m on a sanctioned field from the AMA and I’m a current AMA member I just took some pictures of my flight that day got home and sold them to someone for money. Would that be considered commercial and I would need to be a certified pilot with an exemption 333 because I have a business name to go with that.



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