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New Telemetry Suggests Shot-Down Drone Was Higher Than Alleged

Posted by samzenpus on from the lucky-shot dept.

AmiMoJo writes: The pilot of the drone shot down Sunday evening over a Kentucky property has now come forward with video seemingly showing that the drone wasn't nearly as close as the property owner made it out to be. The data also shows that it was well over 200 feet above the ground before the fatal shots fired. The shooter, meanwhile, continues to maintain that the drone flew 20 feet over a neighbour's house before ascending to "60 to 80 [feet] above me."

2 of 528 comments (clear)

  1. Might want to reconsider paying the fine... by Above · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I can pay the fine

    Federal Law does not put drones in a special category. They are just another aircraft. The penalty is up to 20 years in federal prison, and a $250,000 fine. That's in addition to the charges this individual has already faced for discharging a fire arm in the city he lived in, as they make that illegal there.

    More interestingly, there is a line here that is not well defined. What's the difference between:

    • Google taking pictures from a Satellite for google maps.
    • Bing taking pictures from a Cessna at 10,000 feet for Bing maps.
    • The police helicopter flying over at 3,000 feet but only using their eyes.
    • The police helicopter flying over at 3,000 feet and using their 100x super-zoom camera.
    • The drone at 400 feet with a GoPro.
    • The done at 100 feet with a GoPro.
    • The drone hovering outside your window with a GoPro.

    I think most people would say the first is fine, and it's not legal to try and shoot down the google satellite. Similarly, I think most people would be ok with taking action against the last one to protect privacy (even if that isn't legal per the federal law I cited above). This technology is so new, we simply haven't decided as a society where the line should be drawn, and our old laws probably don't work well.

    It's not just personal houses either. What about the drones used by activists to fly over industrial operations breaking the law and get footage of it? Can the industrial operations shoot them down? If they do the same thing with a Cessna at 3,000 feet everyone would say no. What makes a drone at 400 any different?

  2. Re:shooter should have talked to owner first by bws111 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Why is it the property owners reponsibility to go find and talk to the drone operator? The drone operator, on the other hand, knows where his toy is going so maybe HE should actually act like a responsible person and let the property owners know what he is doing ahead of time.