While consumer drones might not have been regulated at the start, they are now by various governing agencies around the world. The laws will vary from country to country, where in some places like the US, drone owners are required to register their drones (unless it weighs under 0.55 pounds) with the FAA.
Failure to do so can land you in a spot of trouble and be hit with fines, which is what one drone owner (who remains anonymous) has been on the receiving end of, where this individual has since been fined a whopping $182,000 by the FAA. This massive fine seems to come on the back of multiple warnings that they were given by the FAA between December 2019 to August 2020.
According to the FAA, apparently this individual conducted at least 26 separate flights which have violated the FAA’s regulations. Aviation attorney Jonathan Rupprecht, who was granted access to a copy of the penalty letter, says that the FAA had actually reached out to the pilot at least twice, but for some reason it seems that the drone owner decided to ignore those warnings.
$182,000 is a lot of money to pay for a fine and we’re not sure if the drone owner will be required to pay its entirety, or if maybe they can come to some kind of settlement agreement that could reduce the overall amount. Either way, if you do own a drone or plan to buy one, remember to check your local laws first.
Filed in . Read more about Drones, Faa, Legal and Social Hit. Source: dpreview