From the Associated Press:
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio (AP) — A man is facing charges after deputies say he was flying a video camera-equipped drone that hindered the landing of a medical helicopter at an accident scene.
Kele Stanley, of Springfield, said he’s been unfairly charged and would have landed it immediately if he knew the medical helicopter was en route.
“I’m not an idiot,” he said.
The hobbyist was flying the $4,000 drone over a crash scene on Saturday morning to shoot photos and video.
Authorities said both fire officials and a Clark County sheriff’s deputy told Stanley to stop flying his remote-controlled aircraft because the helicopter was preparing to land, and that he refused. The helicopter was able to land and depart safely from the scene.
Stanley is facing a felony charge of obstructing official business and misdemeanor charges of misconduct at an emergency and disorderly conduct. He pleaded not guilty during a court appearance Monday and said he’s going to hire a lawyer to fight the charges.
Stanley, a 31-year-old copy-machine repairman and videographer, said he flew his remote-controlled “hexacopter” about 75 feet above where a pickup had hit a tree in Moorefield Township near Springfield. He said he was shooting the video as a hobby and would have turned it over to local television stations, as he has done before.
There currently are no regulations in Ohio governing private use of the unmanned aircraft, although law enforcement agencies must get special permits to use them. The Federal Aviation Administration bars the commercial use of drones.
(Photo above: Clark County Jail)
((Photo below:/Clark County Sheriff's Office)
Comments
I will repeat myself in what has turned into quite a swamp here. The fact that a "drone" was involved in this incident is insignificant. Only very few people, those who like us here are focused on drones, put the aircraft at the center of the story, when in fact it is only a mildly interesting peripheral to everyone else. This clown could just as easily have driven a car into the LZ and argued about moving it because he was busy filming or whatever. He could have had a dog running loose in the LZ and argued about leashing it. I've seen exactly these things. His crime wasn't flying a drone, just as in the cases I've witnessed it wasn't driving a car or walking a dog. It was him refusing to obey an order at an emergency scene. That's a much different thing.
I never said they were idiots, nor did I ever say they have no purpose. You clearly do not care what anyone else says or thinks, you're just going keep ranting like everyone but you is an incompetent fool. Bye.
In one breath you say nobody would be required to join. But in another breath, you say only people who join would be "protected" or have any such rights. You're making the same argument as the AMA. Join our organization (and pay our dues), or you can find a different hobby.
Please explain how requiring someone to join a private organization to do something in their personal free time with their person aircraft, on their own personal property, simply in order to have their regulations imposed on you, is any different than the actual government.
Oh, the point of a governing body is a good one: self regulation is always preferable to govt regulation.
No we do not need a governing body. It's called common sense. You're babbling rants make very little sense.
There i undoubtedly more to this than Mr "I'm not an idiot" is eluding to.
Just my two cents, but I suspect that this person has some history with the local authorities that factors into the story.
It is unlikely that he just happened upon this accident scene prior to the arrival of the medevac helicopter with a $4000 drone in the back seat. Since he lists one of his occupations as videographer, and has done this before (shoots as a hobby and turns it over to local TV stations), he likely has a scanner and drives (races?) to as many accident scenes and fires as he can with the intent of filming and "sharing the video". Let's face it - it takes some planning and effort to arrive at an accident scene while the authorities are still trying to secure a landing zone for the inbound medevac.
Felony obstruction does seem to fit.
@ Monroe
So how is it that the AMA isn't the correct governing body?
I'm not saying that they do a good job, support fpv, or are anything except Giant Scale obsessed, and their guidelines are currently full of contradictions, but it is the governing body that is in place and they are quite powerful.
Sounds to me more like someone was looking for an excuse to impound the footage in case it gave evidence of someone in some official capacity not following proper procedure.
Or, you know, they just wanted a legal excuse to get rid of one more distraction that frankly, EMTs and Rescue people just don't need.
mnem
Easily distr.... SQUIRREL!!!
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