The Federal Aviation Administration fined David Zablidowsky $2,200 for a September incident in which he flew a quad-copter off a building on East 38th Street in Manhattan. The FAA said Zablidowsky didn’t get permission from air-traffic controllers to fly the drone, which hit two high-rises before crashing near Grand Central Terminal.
“Your operation of the aircraft endangered the safety of the national airspace system,” the FAA told Zablidowsky in a March 20 letter released yesterday.
The FAA has struggled to police the burgeoning use of drones that anyone can buy online or at hobby shops. With the exception of hobbyists, the agency doesn’t allow drone flights unless it has granted a special permit, which wasn’t done in this case. Two messages left on a telephone number listed for a David Zablidowsky in Brooklyn weren’t returned.
The action against Zablidowsky, who can appeal the fine, is the FAA’s first attempt to penalize a drone operator who wasn’t flying for hire.
Zablidowsky was tracked down because he videoed the Sept. 30, 2013, flight on the quad-copter and could be seen preparing the device for takeoff from a balcony, according to a story by WABC-TV in New York at the time. The device, along with a small camera, were taken by the pedestrian it almost hit, according to the TV station.
The copter can be seen hovering over the city and flying into the side of buildings in the video.
Zablidowsky was accused by the FAA of flying in restricted airspace without obtaining permission from controllers and operating the drone in a “careless or reckless manner.”
The airspace designation above that part of New York is the same as for flights using nearby airports, including LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy, according to the FAA.
Source: Bloomberg Business
The FAA has no jurisdiction on commercial use of radio controlled craft like this. Calling them drones makes people think they are Predator Drones with kill capability. It is a misnomer because by that definition a radio controlled airplane can be classified as a drone. You can autopilot ANY craft and you can set waypoints as well.
The FAA fine may get thrown out of court like the FAA attempt to fine a commercial operator.
Sorry but it is well established that the FAA has control over all airspace and anything that operates in it.