The Cost of Carelessness: Operator Sentenced in Space Needle…

By Wknight94 [GFDL  or CC BY-SA 3.0 ]

Seattle’s Space Needle appears to draw drones, and it appears that evidently officers have determined sufficient is sufficient.  Seattle lawmakers pushed for drone rules again in 2014 when a drone video of the Space Needle went viral.  Since then, Seattle has had different incidents: 2015 noticed a crash on the Gay Pride parade, rendering one lady unconscious; one other drone crashed into town’s large Ferris Wheel that very same yr.

On New Year’s Eve, December 31 of 2016, a drone crashed into the monument, and fell onto a platform.  Nobody was harmed, and the Space Needle didn’t endure any injury.  That didn’t matter: because the drone (an Inspire 1) was recovered, the operator was recognized – and known as to account.  Officials heaped humiliation upon the operator by publishing FPV video of the crash.

That operator, 20-year outdated Cole Kelley, was sentenced on Tuesday.  While Kelley gained’t need to serve jail time, half of his sentence is that he should forfeit his drone and agree to not fly in future.

Kelley pleaded responsible  to a gross misdemeanor cost of reckless endangerment.  Court information say that he operated the drone in ” a way that precipitated a probability of hurt to individuals or property.” Kelley was in clear violation of FAA guidelines, flying over 400 ft in altitude.  He was given a 364-day sentence, suspended; and a $5,000 positive, with all however $250. suspended.

While a $250. positive isn’t excessive, the demand that Kelley forfeit his drone and lose his proper to fly was a shock to some in the business.  The case comes at a time when some industrial operators are calling for stricter enforcement of legal guidelines for leisure flyers, after a spate of latest unhealthy publicity has threatened extra drone regulation for all operators.  In any case, the truth that Kelley was prosecuted makes the FAA’s place clear: there might be a price for carelessness when flying drones.

 

 

Miriam McNabb is the Editor-in-Chief of DRONELIFE and CEO of JobForDrones, an expert drone companies market, and a fascinated observer of the rising drone business and the regulatory atmosphere for drones. Miriam has a level from the University of Chicago and over 20 years of expertise in excessive tech gross sales and advertising and marketing for brand spanking new applied sciences.
Email Miriam
TWITTER:@spaldingbarker



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