36-year-old man from Barcelona REPORTED for flying a drone through the Catalan capital

[Yaros]

He got fined for flying higher than 400ft, far away BVLOS, and over a city.

Un veí de Barcelona s'exposa a 220.000 euros de multa per fer volar un dron des del balcó

L'home hauria enlairat l'aparell diversos cops des del balcó de casa, a la plaça Cerdà, a una altura superior a la permesa i posant en risc altres aeronaus

www.ccma.cat

I find this ridiculously unreasonable! He didn't do damage to anything, why fine him? Spain is going crazy about drones, people that don't have one most hate them... And that leads to situations like this one. It says that some neighbor reported the guy flying the drone and the police used DJI Aeroscope to locate him.

What's your opinion about this?

 

[MarkusAtHome]

He got fined for flying higher than 400ft, far away BVLOS, and over a city.

Un veí de Barcelona s'exposa a 220.000 euros de multa per fer volar un dron des del balcó

L'home hauria enlairat l'aparell diversos cops des del balcó de casa, a la plaça Cerdà, a una altura superior a la permesa i posant en risc altres aeronaus

www.ccma.cat

I find this ridiculously unreasonable! He didn't do damage to anything, why fine him? Spain is going crazy about drones, people that don't have one most hate them... And that leads to situations like this one. It says that some neighbor reported the guy flying the drone and the police used DJI Aeroscope to locate him.

What's your opinion about this?

Well, he did breach the rules. A fine of €220 would be ok. But €220k!

 

[Deleted member 103366]

Google translate =
The Mossos d'Esquadra have reported a 36-year-old man from Barcelona for flying a drone through the Catalan capital several times without a permit or insurance. With all the information gathered, the State Aviation Safety Agency has been informed, which can impose a penalty on the pilot of up to 220,000 euros.

Officers from the Air Safety Technical Unit and the Drone Unit through the NATO-approved Kuppel system detected that the pilot was initiating drone flights from the balcony of his house, in Plaça Cerdà.

From there it made routes of more than 6 kilometers at an altitude higher than allowed and put other aircraft at risk, mainly helicopters of the emergency service. And the fact is that flying at these distances makes it impossible for the pilot to take measures to avoid a possible collision in highly populated areas.

The Kuppel system has sensors installed at different points that make up a kind of air protection dome, from which these unmanned aerial vehicles can be detected and geolocated.

Replying to @mossos
Flights could pose a risk of collision with other manned aircraft or drone crashes on people in the event of a malfunction. The flight was identified using the Kuppel system


The Mossos remind us that this type of aircraft is not a toy and that it is necessary to have the necessary authorizations to use it. Also, remember what the requirements are and some recommendations for flying drones.

 

[Mazdaman323lx]

He got fined for flying higher than 400ft, far away BVLOS, and over a city.

Un veí de Barcelona s'exposa a 220.000 euros de multa per fer volar un dron des del balcó

L'home hauria enlairat l'aparell diversos cops des del balcó de casa, a la plaça Cerdà, a una altura superior a la permesa i posant en risc altres aeronaus

www.ccma.cat

I find this ridiculously unreasonable! He didn't do damage to anything, why fine him? Spain is going crazy about drones, people that don't have one most hate them... And that leads to situations like this one. It says that some neighbor reported the guy flying the drone and the police used DJI Aeroscope to locate him.

What's your opinion about this?

Can impose fines up to 220 k isn't the same as has fined him 220k .

 

[Deleted member 103366]

Also " for flying a drone through the Catalan capital several times without a permit or insurance."
Will you be flying with this level of possible fine in mind in future?

 

[Yaros]

Also " for flying a drone through the Catalan capital several times without a permit or insurance."
Will you be flying with this level of possible fine in mind in future?

No, but I just find it very stupid, this shouldn't be happening!

 

[timsewell]

No, but I just find it very stupid, this shouldn't be happening!

Why shouldn't it be happening?

 

[MS Coast]

In the US.

The willful interference, with the intent to endanger the safety of any person or with a reckless disregard for the safety of human life, of anyone engaged in the authorized operation of an aircraft or any air navigation facility aiding in the navigation of any such aircraft is a criminal violation that has a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and/or $250,000 fine. (18 U.S.C. § 32

Spain and the US seem to be on the same page. The OP's article describes a maximum fine, not a fine that was actually imposed. Much ado about not too much. (Sorry, Bill.)

 

[PHZ]

Also " for flying a drone through the Catalan capital several times without a permit or insurance."
Will you be flying with this level of possible fine in mind in future?

Could the same point have been impressed on the offender with a lesser fine? May be worth consideration.

 

[Deleted member 103366]

We do not know.
Nor, if google translate is correct, do we know the actual fine being sought, the article says "which can impose a penalty on the pilot of up to 220,000 euros".
Nor do we know if he had been contacted or warned previously and ignored those.
If the authorities are seeking 220,000€ maybe they want to scare the do-da out of others who fly over Spanish towns with no insurance and no 'paperwork'.
It would certainly make me stop.

 

[sar104]

He got fined for flying higher than 400ft, far away BVLOS, and over a city.

Un veí de Barcelona s'exposa a 220.000 euros de multa per fer volar un dron des del balcó

L'home hauria enlairat l'aparell diversos cops des del balcó de casa, a la plaça Cerdà, a una altura superior a la permesa i posant en risc altres aeronaus

www.ccma.cat

I find this ridiculously unreasonable! He didn't do damage to anything, why fine him? Spain is going crazy about drones, people that don't have one most hate them... And that leads to situations like this one. It says that some neighbor reported the guy flying the drone and the police used DJI Aeroscope to locate him.

What's your opinion about this?

He hasn't been fined - he faces a fine of up to that amount. Sounds like an appropriate deterrent to me.

 

[BigAl07]

What would you think is a "Fair Fine" for his actions? At what point is the fine "low enough" to not deter the actions? At what point if the fine TOO high to be fair? Actually, to be fair if he didn't break the rules there would b ZERO fine!!!

Play Stupid Games get Stupid Rewards!!

Which part of "Up to" is confusing so many? Many fines have a MAX and unless the actions are serious negligent, repeat offenses, or some type of Incident actually happened MAX FINES are rarely levied. The Up To is a very important part of this equation. I find it deeply ironic that he hasn't even been fined yet and some are already jumping to his defense.. I say FINE him the MAX fine and let it be an example to the followers . . .

Ponder this... if those EXACT same actions had caused a manned aircraft to crash would that "Max Fine" be ok with you? Actions are the same but the consequences would be a bit different. Maybe the 220K Euros is an enticement to NOT jeopardize life and limb of other human beings . . . .

 

[Ty Pilot]

Well said @BigAl07

He got fined for flying higher than 400ft, far away BVLOS, and over a city.

Well that was not stated (that he got fined), but even if so . . . Ok, fine. All of those things are illegal are they not?

I find this ridiculously unreasonable! He didn't do damage to anything

Was this due to his masterful skill, training and expertise or blind luck? I would say the latter.

What's your opinion about this?

If he knowingly broke laws that regulate drone flight then I would say he was showing reckless disregard to those laws and a fine is warranted. How much? I am not to say, but if in doing so, other potential reckless flights are halted by the possibility of such fines, then perhaps that is a good thing.

 

[zocalo]

I think it's impossible to say what a "fair fine" would be based on the evidence provided in the thread.

"He got fined for flying higher than 400ft, far away BVLOS, and over a city." OK, so that's a breach of the rules on three separate counts (that we know of). On it's own, that's probably a pretty steep cautionary fine, but still way less than the maximum limit of €220,000 - maybe in the hundreds or thousands of Euros depending what's typical for Spain and taking into account the exact nature of the flight, and given no actual harm appears to have been caused?

But then there's "several times without permit or insurance", so that's going to ratchet things up a bit. If he's been continuing to make these flights after being fined for earlier ones, then I'd expect that's going to be a fairly large uplift, if the pattern of behaviour only came to light after a single investigation, then maybe not so much, but potentially still a big chunk of change.

This is clearly someone who doesn't care for the rules or the safety of others, and I expect the judge is going to take that into account when deterimining what is a fair penalty for the infringement. Personally, I've got little sympathy for behaviour like this given it makes things a lot harder for the rest of us, so think a pretty steep fine is in order even if this is the first time he's been prosecuted. If he's been continuing to offend after earlier cautions or prosecutions, then the penalty should be increased accordingly, but even so I don't think it's going to come close to the €220,000 limit based on what we know so far.

Of course, the judge might just see this as a good opportunity to set an example to discourage others, in which case all bets are off.

 

[Lastrexking]

They broke the law. The fine (when decided) is the punishment. I have no problem with this. Barcelona has been a no fly zone for years now, so it's not like there's an excuse.

 

[Yaros]

They broke the law. The fine (when decided) is the punishment. I have no problem with this. Barcelona has been a no fly zone for years now, so it's not like there's an excuse.

That's exactly the problem! Spain is just way too restrictive when it comes to airspace and drones! Just sayin', AESA isn't following EASA rules because AESA modified the C1 category weight limit, which is not allowed by EASA... just plain stupidity on the side of Spain.
When I went to Barcelona I saw some drones there, but I haven't flown there myself.

 

[Deleted member 103366]

That's exactly the problem! Spain is just way too restrictive when it comes to airspace and drones! Just sayin', AESA isn't following EASA rules because AESA modified the C1 category weight limit, which is not allowed by EASA... just plain stupidity on the side of Spain.

That is in your opinion.
In addition the pilot was flying with out insurance and "permit". Presumably they are required by law.
If you feel that strongly about the matter become one of the law makers and change the law but bear in mind the law might exist for a reason, what is that reason?

Personally I think those folks that fly drones over towns and cities need their head examining. At the mere thought of it, the question that immediately comes into my mind is' "what happens if something goes wrong?". If the drone comes down on a car (damaging the car or worse causing a crash) or solar panel or pet or person, one could be up **** creek.
So I would say the no fly zone over Barcelona is a wise precaution.
But that is just my opinion.

Aside from things going wrong with the drone, towns and cities are home to Pigeons and Starlings. A drone pilot would have little chance of avoiding one on them and in a flock they may have little chance of avoiding a drone, especially at the speeds they fly.

 

[GFields]

You play, you pay. Ditto @BigAl07

 

[MS Coast]

"A neighbor got fined $250K for flying a drone from his balcony in Barcelona, Spain"

It seems like there should be some mechanism for editing misleading thread titles like this to avoid misleading users who are searching or browsing the index in the future.

 

[microlinux]

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.