“When hiring an attorney, don’t hire a poser, hire an attorney who is a pilot.”
- Drone operators have flown in Class B Airspace, Class D Airspace, Class G Airspace, Prohibited Airspace, FRZ (Flight Restricted) Airspace and SFRA (Special Flight Rules Area) Airspace violations. Multiple Airspace Classes could be flown through in a single flight. The SFRA, which includes the FRZ, is National Defense Airspace.
Each flight should have been a $5,500 fine at a minimum. Why? With a typical drone operator, at least 5 regulations are usually being violated in each flight. If the operator switched out batteries, that would be a 2x multiplier because they are violating each of those 5 a second time on the second flight. A two battery job could compile a fine of around $11,000 if a prosecutor really wanted to go after you.
You can be prosecuted under state/local law as well as federal law at the same time for the same flight. Also, keep in mind that a 333/COA is helpful for getting local law enforcement off your back as they are generally trying to find operators who do not have 333s.
Even loss of line of sight justifies a violation of the prohibition on careless and reckless flying in the view of the FAA.
Drone Lawsuits - I found the State by State portion towards the bottom of the document most interesting.
- One operator flew into the Empire State Building.
- Another crashed his drone into the U.S. Open Tennis Match.
- Seattle Space Needle crash. Rupprecht Law states that this is a famous case that was all over the Internet.
- Operator flew near a helicopter. Charged with risking a catastrophe (felony) and recklessly endangering another person (misdemeanor).
- Parties and weddings seem to attract drone operators crashing into people.
- Other interesting copyright infringement lawsuits between drone companies.
Regards,
remotepilot
Permission for use by J. Rupprecht
