Drunk man flew a drone over a beach full of people in Mallorca

[Yaros]

Translation from Spanish of the article by ib3.org

Police has fined a man who flew a drone in Cala Romántica without having the required permission and recklessly over people who were on the beach. An off-duty National Police officer in Cala Romántica observed a tourist flying a drone and at the same time showing clear symptoms of being under the influence of alcohol.

The tourist recklessly flew over people on the beach. Given the risk of causing an incident, the police officer asked the pilot of the drone to land the aircraft, which the man refused. The agents managed to get the pilot to land the drone, although, due to his drunken state, it hit him in the face and caused minor cuts.

The patrol contacted AESA who coordinated the steps to follow to intervene the aircraft and document the incident for the corresponding sanction. The man violated several laws, by piloting a drone without being registered as an operator, not having mandatory insurance, or a remote pilot competency certificate, and flying over a crowd of people and buildings.
The sanction that could be faced by AESA is between 60 and 225 euros.

--------------------

I should add:
1. It isn't specified in the article which drone he was flying, but from the photos it seems like it was a Phantom 4 Pro, which is definitely not allowed to fly over people and buildings in Spain.
2. The police probably didn't know that Return To Home exists, because if they would, they could have just pressed the button and the drone would just return and land by itself. However, without knowing which drone exactly he was using, it is unknown if the drone had that feature
3. This was published on most news websites in Mallorca, and some say the fine is from 60 to 225 euros, others say from 60 to 225K euros

 

[MS Coast]

Here's another case of an irresponsible idiot providing a justification for more restrictive drone regulations.

It's somewhat amusing that he flew the drone into his own face.

 

[Yaros]

Here's another case of an irresponsible idiot providing a justification for more restrictive drone regulations.

Yes... I hate to see news like this, because it just means that more drone restrictions are coming...

 

[lookout]

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[Tufargon]

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You know that was an air show. That was done for fun and the guy wasn't really drunk. It was all part of the air show.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

showing clear symptoms of being under the influence of alcohol

They say ‘you can’t put brains in pumpkins’.
Never looked the origins of the saying, but seems applicable here.

Drones + alcohol = stupid decisions, much Ike most activities and excessive inebriation.

I would hope both authorities and the general public are not stupid enough to think single very sparse incidents like this are cause for further restrictions.
As with everything in life you get the stupid people doing things they shouldn’t in all facets of daily life.

 

[DaveG]

They say ‘you can’t put brains in pumpkins’.
Never looked the origins of the saying, but seems applicable here.

Drones + alcohol = stupid decisions, much Ike most activities and excessive inebriation.

I would hope both authorities and the general public are not stupid enough to think single very sparse incidents like this are cause for further restrictions.
As with everything in life you get the stupid people doing things they shouldn’t in all facets of daily life.

Yep, an idiot like this is not going to give a **** about stricter regulations. That would only impact those of us who are already trying to fly responsibly.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Yep, an idiot like this is not going to give a **** about stricter regulations. That would only impact those of us who are already trying to fly responsibly.

You're right, just like you won't stop irresponsible drone owners from flying way BVLOS, into dangerous airspace with disregard, it can never be fully stopped with legislation.
And tougher rules only affect the legitimate and responsible folk doing the right thing.

 

[spsphotos]

Yes... I hate to see news like this, because it just means that more drone restrictions are coming...

No, it doesn't. Do more and more traffic laws come about from people who get speeding tickets or drunk driving arrests? There are more than enough laws...they just enforce them.

 

[GFields]

Translation from Spanish of the article by ib3.org

Police has fined a man who flew a drone in Cala Romántica without having the required permission and recklessly over people who were on the beach. An off-duty National Police officer in Cala Romántica observed a tourist flying a drone and at the same time showing clear symptoms of being under the influence of alcohol.

The tourist recklessly flew over people on the beach. Given the risk of causing an incident, the police officer asked the pilot of the drone to land the aircraft, which the man refused. The agents managed to get the pilot to land the drone, although, due to his drunken state, it hit him in the face and caused minor cuts.

The patrol contacted AESA who coordinated the steps to follow to intervene the aircraft and document the incident for the corresponding sanction. The man violated several laws, by piloting a drone without being registered as an operator, not having mandatory insurance, or a remote pilot competency certificate, and flying over a crowd of people and buildings.
The sanction that could be faced by AESA is between 60 and 225 euros.

--------------------

I should add:
1. It isn't specified in the article which drone he was flying, but from the photos it seems like it was a Phantom 4 Pro, which is definitely not allowed to fly over people and buildings in Spain.
2. The police probably didn't know that Return To Home exists, because if they would, they could have just pressed the button and the drone would just return and land by itself. However, without knowing which drone exactly he was using, it is unknown if the drone had that feature
3. This was published on most news websites in Mallorca, and some say the fine is from 60 to 225 euros, others say from 60 to 225K euros

Stupid is as stupid does. However, it doesn't go well with the drone community and those who are already skeptical of drones.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

No, it doesn't. Do more and more traffic laws come about from people who get speeding tickets or drunk driving arrests? There are more than enough laws...they just enforce them.

They just HAVE to enforce them.
So many times I have seen regular existing laws that can cope with a scenario, yet authorities seem to bring in a new law specifically for something or other anyway.
Road rules, council (city of) bylaws, airspace rules, etc.

Not sure about the USA, but here there are so many laws / rules, and can be different for each state / territory, that even the police or such authority don't know them all.
That's bordering on the farcical, an over bureaucratised society we have become / are still becoming in western countries.

 

[Dbez1]

In the USA it’s 8 hours from bottle to throttle. This guy probably would have ignored that though.

 

[Robert Prior]

There are more than enough laws...they just enforce them.

That is the key. In terms of deterrence, "probability of getting caught" is more important than "severity of punishment". (Within limits, of course.)

I was chatting with a friend yesterday, former cop. Police in his town have been on a speeding blitz around community safety zones. (Reduced speed limits near schools and playgrounds.) He was surprised that a few days of that have resulted in most people no longer speeding by 20+ km/h. Back in his day the police didn't do this, so people got used to speed limits mostly not being enforced and tended to ignore them.

 

[Robert Prior]

In the USA it’s 8 hours from bottle to throttle. This guy probably would have ignored that though.

12 in Canada. Being Mr. Cautious, I wait 24+ hours.

(I've also got a very low alcohol tolerance, so want to allow for that.)

 

[monteolsen1]

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That was perfect to insert into the conversation. These guys are great. LOL

 

[Tufargon]

That was perfect to insert into the conversation. These guys are great. LOL

How do you figure that? I think creating a new topic about the air show would have been more appropriate. It dilutes the subject of the thread and creates false beliefs (with people that believe it's real).

 

[monteolsen1]

ThHow do you figure that? I think creating a new topic about the air show would have been more appropriate. It dilutes the subject of the thread and creates false beliefs (with people that believe it's real).

That's your opinion, right? I've seen videos of this particular show several times. The conversation is about drunk drone pilots. This is a video of an airshow act (as clearly shown in the video) that was created for comedic effect. I'm sorry your sense of humor won't allow you to loosen up and enjoy the humor in it.

IMHO, this video was both appropriate for the subject, was lightening up a conversation and was contributing to the conversation. Sorry you disagree. Oh well.

 

[GFields]

Ok, time to close this one - thanks guys