The owner of an aerial photography business was sentenced to 30 days in prison and a $500 fine after a drone he was using collided into the pedestrian during a 2015 parade and thumped one woman unconscious.
Paul Skinner, 38, was discovered guilty of neglectful and reckless endangerment by Judge Willie Gregory of the Seattle Municipal Court. Gregory recognized that the impact was inadvertent, not intentional, but rather felt a punishment was all in order as Skinner had occupied in conduct that place people in danger of being harmed, The Seattle Times reported.
While there have been various arrests and fines identified with drone crashes in the US in the course of the most recent couple of years, this might be the first time the punishment for a pilot included prison time. According to Arthur Holland Michael, co-executive of the Center for the Study of the Drone, he had never known about anybody getting jail sentence before due to mishandling a drone.
Tom McMahon, VP of Advocacy and Public Affairs at the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, was also not able to review any point of reference.
Some part of the explanation behind this is that there are couple of laws on the book specifically administering ramble flight. Lawmakers in Washington, where Skinner was sentenced, are investigating and looking for drafting new regulations particularly aimed for drones. Most drone industry trade groups are against these measures, contending that nearby laws would make a wreck by covering and repudiating rules as of now set up by the Federal Aviation Administration.
According to Brian P. Wynne, President of the AUVSI, in a letter cited by The News Tribune, enactment like the bill being considered in Washington can possibly make a confounded interwoven of laws that will dissolve, as opposed to upgraded flight security.
