Man gets 30 days in jail for drone crash

The submitter trimmed this from the title: "Man gets 30 days in jail for drone crash that knocked woman unconscious".

I read this article somewhere else and, frankly, I'm thrilled that this guy got jail time. The FAA already has rules in place for drone use that restrict drone flights and explicitly forbid flights over areas where there are people that are not shielded by some type of cover. In order to fly a drone commercially, you have to pass an exam that covers all these rules and the registration for your drone requires you to agree to these regulations before you can complete the registration. He ignored the regulations (whose only purpose is really safety) and got someone hurt. He deserved it.

I've been flying RC model airplanes, powered and gliders, as well as well as RC helicopters (not the toys from the mall, $2,000 to $5,000 machines) for over thirty years.

I cannot believe the irresponsibility and carelessness of some of the people flying these drones. Nor can I believe the manufacturers painting rosy pictures about the products they sell.

Here's the truth:

I don't care what you buy today. If it costs less than $250K it is a toy. Period.

And that means it is built with toy parts and a toy engineering process.

And it also means these things can fall out of the sky any time and any place for a myriad of reasons or no reason at all.

The "safety" features they have are nothing less than jokes. Things like "return home" are utterly and totally useless in the case of electronics failure.

A few days ago my family and I went to have a birthday dinner with other family members for one of the kids. After a great evening we set out to go home and get out to the parking lot. This is a location where there are a few nice restaurants and companies like Best Buy, etc. on the same property. Large parking lot. Lots of cars and people.

Sure enough, some moron is flying a quadcopter right on top of people, cars, building, etc. The drone was probably 100 feet up. It was night time so I couldn't see who might have been flying it. For all I know the idiot was inside a car.

I can't understand the lack of consideration and common sense. Some of these people seem to have zero concerns for placing others in potentially mortal danger. I've seen idiots flying these things around our local lake or the park where kids play. Insane, truly insane.

I have always --always-- flown from AMA (http://www.modelaircraft.org/) sanctioned clubs and flying fields. I carry a one million dollar insurance policy for both myself and my kid. And, of course AMA rules are such that this policy does not cover us if we fly at a location like the aforementioned parking lot. And there are rules beyond that.

I am all for people having consequences like jail time for putting others in danger. This is no different from firing a gun in the air. It's only a matter of time before someone gets hurt.

The way it's going: driver licenses, traffic laws, DUI tests, insurance, uninsured pilot protection etc. The big question is are the emerging sky laws in the U.S. going to federal or local?