FAA enforcement action 20 Thousand dollar fine

Jagerbomb52 · Nov 21, 2019

Finally the FAA has made a statement with this large fine. Follow the rules boys and girls or you could find yourself in the same situation.

Calif. tourist fined $20K for out-of-control drone that landed at airport in Las Vegas

Calif. tourist fined $20K for out-of-control drone that landed at airport in Las Vegas

Flying drones on the Strip requires Federal Aviation Administration approval. This approval is only given to licensed, professional pilots. If you are not licensed and something goes wrong, you would

www.fox5vegas.com

AH-1G · Nov 21, 2019

Bout time.... an the dud that flew...???????????

DoomMeister · Nov 21, 2019

Unfortunately the article failed to say when this flight took place. Was it before or after the new rules were in place from the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018. That the drone landed near an active runway is the real problem here. The other question that comes to mind for me is, “ Is McCarron using active anti drone technology and did it cause the drone to fly off and land on McCarron property for recovery purposes?”

I am not sticking up for the operator of this UAV. I am glad to see the FAA flexing some muscle for a change. They really need to go after the idiots that interfere with emergency services like fire fighting efforts and natural disaster emergency areas, as well as those that fly in other TFR areas without the proper clearance.

Jagerbomb52 · Nov 21, 2019

DoomMeister said:
Unfortunately the article failed to say when this flight took place. Was it before or after the new rules were in place from the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018. That the drone landed near an active runway is the real problem here. The other question that comes to mind for me is, “ Is McCarron using active anti drone technology and did it cause the drone to fly off and land on McCarron property for recovery purposes?”

I am not sticking up for the operator of this UAV. I am glad to see the FAA flexing some muscle for a change. They really need to go after the idiots that interfere with emergency services like fire fighting efforts and natural disaster emergency areas, as well as those that fly in other TFR areas without the proper clearance.

On his Youtube channel he had this to say. It was posted Nov 27 2018

My drone flew away after loosing GPS, drifting 4 miles away landing at McCarren airport when trump was in town and drone was intercepted by secret service.even after showing it was a system failure i was still fined 15,000!!!

AH-1G · Nov 21, 2019

If Trump was in town there's a TFR issued days before he's show up and usually a 30 mile radius.
No excuse! KNOW THE RULES BEFORE YOU FLY !!

Ty Pilot · Nov 21, 2019

His comments and the end of that story says it all:

"I don’t have the money to fight it, and I wouldn’t even have an idea how to fight it," Burciaga said. "That’s half of my year’s paycheck for trying to take a picture.”

After being fined and told by the FAA what it was about that flight that caused him to be fined, he still doesn't see what he did wrong, or the potential for a real disaster he set in motion by taking that flight. ?

PatR · Nov 21, 2019

Agustine said:
On his Youtube channel he had this to say. It was posted Nov 27 2018

My drone flew away after loosing GPS, drifting 4 miles away landing at McCarren airport when trump was in town and drone was intercepted by secret service.even after showing it was a system failure i was still fined 15,000!!!

That he was flying within roughly 30 miles of the airport was his first problem. There was most certainly a TFR published prohibiting all unapproved flights of full scale and RC in the area.

Violating the runway environment has always been a punishable prohibition at controlled airports. Eliminating runway incursions has been a significant focus of the FAA for well over 10 years. So that was problem #2.

At $15k he got off light. He could have ended up sitting in a federal prison for 10 years or so.

It gets better, though. Another one of his videos is a scenic flight over the Santa Fe ***, a location we can pretty much bet has prohibited drone operations. So both the FAA and DHS could have another go at him if they desired.

Phaedrus · Nov 21, 2019

The Santa Fe location is actually an established RC field. He did however, go astray by crossing over the 605 freeway heading east to fly over the lake.

But this is a stellar example of why and how the ease of use of drones allows idiots to do stupid things that cost us all in the end.

Ty Pilot · Nov 21, 2019

I did a little google search and matched up the flight from start to finish using the various landmarks. I also rotated the view so it matches how the camera was pointing. Turns out this dude was just 1.75 miles from the end of the runway and his total trip length was just 2.25 miles! I matched up 4 minute intervals to exactly where he is in the video. In his comments on YouTube he claims he was 4 miles away. It takes a special kind of ignorance to pull this off.

Fred Garvin · Nov 21, 2019

You should post that in his comments.....

Truman · Nov 22, 2019

Agustine said:
Finally the FAA has made a statement with this large fine. Follow the rules boys and girls or you could find yourself in the same situation.

Calif. tourist fined $20K for out-of-control drone that landed at airport in Las Vegas

Calif. tourist fined $20K for out-of-control drone that landed at airport in Las Vegas

Flying drones on the Strip requires Federal Aviation Administration approval. This approval is only given to licensed, professional pilots. If you are not licensed and something goes wrong, you would

www.fox5vegas.com

One of these days someone is going to break federal law and bring down a commercial airliner and the ones of us abiding by the law will suffer! I worry ever Christmas that because of the thousands of drone sold, it might happen!

DoomMeister · Nov 22, 2019

I am less worried about the large commercial aircraft sustaining crippling damage than smaller private aircraft.

I still think we should have an education/registration system in place before an sUAS is purchased. Making ignorance of the rules/regs a moot point. Safety of the NAS is a paramount concern.

Ty Pilot · Nov 22, 2019

DoomMeister said:
I still think we should have an education/registration system in place before an sUAS is purchased. Making ignorance of the rules/regs a moot point. Safety of the NAS is a paramount concern.

This.

I kinda think we are headed that way, when the FAA rolls out the General Knowledge Test for hobbyists, it would then be a simple matter of having to show proof of passage before purchase. Many states in the US have done a similar thing for motorcycles in that you cannot go into any motorcycle dealer and buy with out having a Motorcycle endorsement on your state license.

jtoolman · Nov 22, 2019

Agustine said:
On his Youtube channel he had this to say. It was posted Nov 27 2018

My drone flew away after loosing GPS, drifting 4 miles away landing at McCarren airport when trump was in town and drone was intercepted by secret service.even after showing it was a system failure i was still fined 15,000!!!

Even without a TFR you were still inside a 5 mile radius. So either way you look at it you were in the wrong. Sorry bud. No pity.

Jagerbomb52 · Nov 22, 2019

jtoolman said:
Even without a TFR you were still inside a 5 mile radius. So either way you look at it you were in the wrong. Sorry bud. No pity.

LOL
Maybe you can reword your comment as it seems you think I was the one fined. Far from it as I live in Canada and never visit Vegas

DoomMeister · Nov 22, 2019

jtoolman said:
Even without a TFR you were still inside a 5 mile radius. So either way you look at it you were in the wrong. Sorry bud. No pity.

Before passage of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, the 5 mile radius was not a major problem for hobbyists. You did not need clearance from ATC, all you had to do was inform the tower or airport manager of your intent to fly (where, altitude, and time). If they did not answer it did not constitute grounds for a non-flight condition.

Thankfully the new rules remedied that by implementing the LAANC system for clearance in controlled airspace and provided access to it for hobbyists as well as 107 pilots. Both can get clearance in areas where the ceiling is the surface, but the request has to be made through the DroneZone and is not near real-time like LAANC. Of course for areas like the Las Vegas Strip your chances of getting clearance for a hobby flight are next to nil.

terrence davidson · Nov 23, 2019

okay this is a dji unit. how did he by pass dji geo space nanny software to arm it. it's a phantom 4. as soon it locks in gps it should have triggered auto land count down and force land.

Jagerbomb52 · Nov 23, 2019

terrence davidson said:
okay this is a dji unit. how did he by pass dji geo space nanny software to arm it. it's a phantom 4. as soon it locks in gps it should have triggered auto land count down and force land.

Most every artical I have read said it was a Phantom 3 which if he never updated would have allowed him to fly I believe. He most likely never updated his bird and that is how he can circumvent the system. Geofencing 2.0 was introduced by DJI on Nov 2018 I think, correct me if I'm wrong.

WernerJB · Nov 23, 2019

I'm just wondering why they gave him the drone back?

dan reed · Nov 23, 2019

Agustine said:
Finally the FAA has made a statement with this large fine. Follow the rules boys and girls or you could find yourself in the same situation.

Calif. tourist fined $20K for out-of-control drone that landed at airport in Las Vegas

Calif. tourist fined $20K for out-of-control drone that landed at airport in Las Vegas

Flying drones on the Strip requires Federal Aviation Administration approval. This approval is only given to licensed, professional pilots. If you are not licensed and something goes wrong, you would

www.fox5vegas.com

stupid is as stupid does