Got arrested in Europe with a fine of 470 euros.

[Skywatcher2001]

Sounds about like how the Vogons would handle things. "Resistance is futile..."
I would have coughed a bunch, and asked if they had any masks you could borrow to "protect" them.

. . . now that's funny!!

 

[gnirtS]

I can't work out why people go abroad and make no attempt what-so-ever to know and obey the local laws of their host country.
Its *exactly* these actions that mean more and more restrictive rules on drone use are being brought in.
If people cant be bothered to spend 2 minutes finding out what they can and can't do before going somewhere they SHOULD be fined and/or arrested. Its laziness combined with arrogance.

 

[gnirtS]

Scary. This is why traveling to other countries scares me. They don't all have the same rights and freedoms we have here in America

No they dont...Lots of countries have more rights and freedoms than America.
Why is it scary? Before going *anywhere* you should familiarise yourself with local laws and regulations, for drones and other non flying related areas.
It's not exactly hard to do in the internet era.

 

[OurAngryBadger]

No they dont...Lots of countries have more rights and freedoms than America.
Why is it scary? Before going *anywhere* you should familiarise yourself with local laws and regulations, for drones and other non flying related areas.
It's not exactly hard to do in the internet era.

I agree. I said "they dont all". Many have less, some have more. You would never catch me bringing my drone to saudi arabia or north korea for example, im sure flying it around would be an instant death sentence after accused of spying.

Those are some extreme examples but you catch my drift I suppose. For example as American i know what our rights are, it's taught from birth. A foreign country, i can do research on the laws yes, but ill never understand them all and as a foreigner ill be treated differently than their own citizens who might be able to get away with more.

Like in the OP example. Im not saying the netherlands is a barbaric place with no rights, but if i can rest assured in america if i flew a drone in a museum i wouldn't have the military come arrest me with machine guns. Here in America its illegal for military to act as police.

Other countries.... Just do things differently. To me it can be scary. Maybe the dutch are used to being arrested by the miltary at gunpoint but personally that would traumatized me

 

[Lastrexking]

I agree. I said "they dont all". Many have less, some have more. You would never catch me bringing my drone to saudi arabia or north korea for example, im sure flying it around would be an instant death sentence after accused of spying.

Those are some extreme examples but you catch my drift I suppose. For example as American i know what our rights are, it's taught from birth. A foreign country, i can do research on the laws yes, but ill never understand them all and as a foreigner ill be treated differently than their own citizens who might be able to get away with more.

Like in the OP example. Im not saying the netherlands is a barbaric place with no rights, but if i can rest assured in america if i flew a drone in a museum i wouldn't have the military come arrest me with machine guns. Here in America its illegal for military to act as police.

Other countries.... Just do things differently. To me it can be scary. Maybe the dutch are used to being arrested by the miltary at gunpoint but personally that would traumatized me

OP said he was flying near a military base and a museum. Go and fly near a US military base, and I guarantee you'll be held at gunpoint by the military, not the police.

it always makes me raise an eye brow when Americans think they're the only free country on the planet. Makes me think of this:

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[WanderDawg]

Scary. This is why traveling to other countries scares me. They don't all have the same rights and freedoms we have here in America. I mean yeah the police can arrest you but the military isnt going to arrest you with machine guns. I'm glad everything ended up working out fairly good for you and I hope you find a way to get the drone back.

I assure you that the military can and will arrest people at gunpoint. They're called MP's. And if you were to spin up your drone on a US military base, they'd likely be doing the same thing to you that the Dutch military did to OP. And if you were a foreign tourist? You probably wouldn't get off as easy as OP did with the Dutch. Sounds like they were fairly reasonable, to be honest.

 

[OurAngryBadger]

I assure you that the military can and will arrest people at gunpoint. They're called MP's. And if you were to spin up your drone on a US military base, they'd likely be doing the same thing to you that the Dutch military did to OP. And if you were a foreign tourist? You probably wouldn't get off as easy as OP did with the Dutch. Sounds like they were fairly reasonable, to be honest.

MPs police members of the military, not civilians. I suppose they could on a military base arrest if a civilian snuck in or something. It's called posse come at us.

I understand that op was technically in a "military base" but it also seems it was open to the public and a museum. I don't know of any active military bases that are also museums open to the public here. I'm not saying there isn't. Maybe pearl harbor?. Idk.

If the castle OP talking about actually an active military base or is it historic military base not used anymore? Because we do have ones exactly like that here, I live 10 miles from one and no the military doesn't patrol them, they don't even have police there just security guards.

it just seems to me extreme to have military with machine guns in a public museum performing policing duties that a security guard can do.

 

[WanderDawg]

MPs police members of the military, not civilians. I suppose they could on a military base arrest if a civilian snuck in or something. It's called posse come at us.

I understand that op was technically in a "military base" but it also seems it was open to the public and a museum. I don't know of any active military bases that are also museums open to the public here. I'm not saying there isn't. Maybe pearl harbor?. Idk.

If the castle OP talking about actually an active military base or is it historic military base not used anymore? Because we do have ones exactly like that here, I live 10 miles from one and no the military doesn't patrol them, they don't even have police there just security guards.

it just seems to me extreme to have military with machine guns in a public museum performing policing duties that a security guard can do.

Posse Comitatus only serves to prevent the military being used to enforce domestic law. Base security is a different matter - if the violator were a civilian they would be turned over to the local authorities - which is what happened to OP.

I've literally witnessed a MARTA (Atlanta rapid transit) cop patrolling with an MP5. It's not that weird. Have you seen the guards at Buckingham Palace? They aren't just a show for the tourists.

Pearl Harbor is probably the single best example of an active military base that is also a tourist attraction.

 

[Flycaster]

Sounds about like how the Vogons would handle things. "Resistance is futile..."
I would have coughed a bunch, and asked if they had any masks you could borrow to "protect" them.

I believe it was /;The Borg", from Star Trek TNG...

 

[Slava Ivanov]

Thanks everyone again for all the links you've shared and for all your thoughts. I understand and agree that the whole situation was my fault.
But as for me, living in a big historical city like St. Petersburg, it's hard to imagine to have kind of military base in downtown area with no any restrictive signs around. And yes, these military objects looked like historical buildings and were placed next to museum objects. The park next to it is a tourist attraction.

 

[Flycaster]

It may be what's INSIDE those buildings.....

 

[gnirtS]

The military base isnt the problem, you admitted yourself you knew none of the laws about where you could fly and what you could do.

 

[Davros007]

Scary. This is why traveling to other countries scares me. They don't all have the same rights and freedoms we have here in America. I mean yeah the police can arrest you but the military isnt going to arrest you with machine guns. I'm glad everything ended up working out fairly good for you and I hope you find a way to get the drone back.

That’s actually a US centric view that’s far from true. Many countries have the same if not more freedoms than US, and/or if you break rules, far lower consequences. Australia where I live is like that. Yep, you cannot get an AR15. But no matter where you are, smoking a joint straight outside a police station, whilst illegal, is not going to get you into gaol. But I would say in the US you are far more likely to face confusion over ‘jurisdiction’ and overlapping rules and law enforcement agencies. And likely without $$$ and a lawyer, whoever has the cash will own you. In many other countries, it’s one clear rule over the whole country, very clear and enforced not only by agencies but also the citizens who often assist to enforce rules as they feel part of making them. I’m going flying in Finland as soon as CV19 stuff is over, and have no fears at all - just read and inquire. Overall, the OP stuffed up, and got off with a warning. Likely the soldiers still have a chuckle now. No harm done, no one beaten, fined or in gaol, and life goes on
But. Avoid flying in Iran

 

[ChrisOutdoors]

No pitty from me OP, you got lucky. If you speed in a foreign country it makes 0 sense to blame the car manufacturer for your recklessness.

Hopefully you learned a valuable lesson.

 

[OurAngryBadger]

That’s actually a US centric view that’s far from true. Many countries have the same if not more freedoms than US, and/or if you break rules, far lower consequences. Australia where I live is like that. Yep, you cannot get an AR15. But no matter where you are, smoking a joint straight outside a police station, whilst illegal, is not going to get you into gaol. But I would say in the US you are far more likely to face confusion over ‘jurisdiction’ and overlapping rules and law enforcement agencies. And likely without $$$ and a lawyer, whoever has the cash will own you. In many other countries, it’s one clear rule over the whole country, very clear and enforced not only by agencies but also the citizens who often assist to enforce rules as they feel part of making them. I’m going flying in Finland as soon as CV19 stuff is over, and have no fears at all - just read and inquire. Overall, the OP stuffed up, and got off with a warning. Likely the soldiers still have a chuckle now. No harm done, no one beaten, fined or in gaol, and life goes on
But. Avoid flying in Iran

I agree. The whole federal vs. state vs. local government laws thing can make things very confusing at times. It is kinda a double edged sword though. The benefit of it is that if you don't agree with the local laws you can move elsewhere to a state or town that has different laws. But it makes it a lot harder to keep track of and know all the laws. I think we should eliminate local laws and keep it to state and federal laws only. But that's never going to happen sadly

 

[Slava Ivanov]

That’s actually a US centric view that’s far from true. Many countries have the same if not more freedoms than US, and/or if you break rules, far lower consequences. Australia where I live is like that. Yep, you cannot get an AR15. But no matter where you are, smoking a joint straight outside a police station, whilst illegal, is not going to get you into gaol. But I would say in the US you are far more likely to face confusion over ‘jurisdiction’ and overlapping rules and law enforcement agencies. And likely without $$$ and a lawyer, whoever has the cash will own you. In many other countries, it’s one clear rule over the whole country, very clear and enforced not only by agencies but also the citizens who often assist to enforce rules as they feel part of making them. I’m going flying in Finland as soon as CV19 stuff is over, and have no fears at all - just read and inquire. Overall, the OP stuffed up, and got off with a warning. Likely the soldiers still have a chuckle now. No harm done, no one beaten, fined or in gaol, and life goes on
But. Avoid flying in Iran

My former colleague who is Iranian said that it’s extremely safe country for traveling.
I know it’s not.

 

[NOLADG]

I will google it. Thanks for advice. Do you prefer any particular app?

Also check out Airmap

 

[gnirtS]

People should ALWAYS use the correct official app and source of airspace restrictions for whatever country they're in.
In most cases, Airmap is useless (and Go4 is far worse).
Ignorance is no defence against breaking a law in most countries.

 

[The Fat Controller]

In the UK NATS Drone Assist is very useful

 

[venturalist]

I hope you'll find this message helpful.

Well, I had my wedding trip in February through Denmark, Germany and Netherlands and everything was perfect until the day "x".
The only thing I knew about regulations was the maximum flight height (which is 120 metres or so).
I always fly with respect to community and people around, being careful to all the details.

That day we went to the fortress in Copenhagen. It's a big open to public area with tress, parks and some historical buildings with no any restricting signs around, I'm sure 99,9%.
I found small square with no any people and decided to use my mavic. Once it was in the air I received a message in the app that this is "no flight zone" and drone will land automatically in 10 seconds. Usually I receive kind of message before take off, but not that time.

Once I landed it took less than a minute for military guys to arrest us. Yes, they were not police men. They said that we tried to use the drone near military base.
We were sure that the buildings around were museum objects but in fact they weren't.
So they asked us to proceed to their territory, took my drone away and brought a glass of water. We were not allowed to even move as guys with the machine guns were staying next to us.
Police arrived in 7-10 minutes and asked to pay a fine of 470 euros straight away and proceed to police station then.
It was very stressful. I felt like I'm going to loose my drone forever, paying big fine and being deported. I'm not kidding as all they guys were very serious.
We said that we are tourist and didn't know all the details. That point didn't work.
Then we said that drone was in the air for less than 30 seconds. That point also didn't work.
Then we said that app (DJI GO 4) landed drone automatically and we followed all the messages appeared on the screen. Thanks God that was the right thing to say as I was about to pay the fine.

Policemen's mood changed, I showed them the application and they took all the details about it. Now fine will go to DJI as they said.

By they way leaving the passports in the car was also not the right thing as it goes against the rules. We had to go to the parking lot all together.

Hope that you will be much more prepared than me and will never have such an experience. I learnt the lesson.

Did you get a criminal record or it just a fee? I am assuming an out of court disposal?

Thanks