By now, many people have heard of the unnamed man who managed to fly a drone over the White House and crash it into the lawn. He had lost control of a borrowed quadcopter, a DJI Phantom, and proceeded to lose control of it. When the media frenzy occurred, he realized the drone found on the White House lawn was the one he had flown the previous night.
Uproar Among the Drone & Quadcopter Community
Since January, this event has caused quire an uproar among the drone and quadcopter community, as well as people who are concerned with the privacy of drones. The drone incident has also brought up important political conversations about the legality of filming with drones and where they can now be legally flown.
The unnamed man and the friend who owns the DJI Phantom drone has wished to apologize to Obama for all of the events that have transpired. Based on the various interviews, the man sounds more embarrassed with these events, opposed to scared or malicious. Both men wish to remain anonymous in news stories, which is understandable when one is a government employee and the other is a scientist. Rumors that are running through some news stories mention that he is not allowed to talk to news outlets for privacy reasons.
No Charges For Crashing Drone at The White House
This man has not been charged with any criminal charges and will not face any repercussions from this. The White House has restricted air space above it, and without previous permission, nothing can be flown above or around it. This is for obvious reasons; there should not be any unidentified aerial objects above a government leader’s residence.
This incident has definitely shoved drones and quadcopters into the public eye. There is hope that this new found “celebrity status” will push companies to develop new and better technology as more people purchase drones. By not charging this man with any criminal charges also sets a precedent for any future drone privacy cases. In many future legal cases, this will be referenced in order to make sure that no one is needlessly charged with drone related crimes.
