Originally Posted by
init4fun
Sport , I will say that Hydro drew a pretty interesting parallel between driving laws and aircraft operations , have you heard the several stories in the news lately where drunk pilots were removed from service , some mere minutes before flying ? They end up charged with such things as reckless endangerment due to the fact that their drinking has recklessly endangered the public and of course the usual "operation of a motor vehicle while intoxicated" that a car driver would face under similar circumstances , the plane being , after all , a motor vehicle in the eyes of the law . Now , if we RC model aircraft operators ARE indeed flying "aircraft" as the FAA states , God forbid such a flight should end badly with someone injured you can bet all kinds of the same charges would be filed against the RC pilot irrespective of whether the flight was manned or not . This particular pilot , since he don't seem to follow rules no matter what he's flying , is a perfect example of the proverbial "accident waiting to happen" and as Franklin points out an indicator of the fact that "self policing" doesn't always work depending on who is or isn't at the field at any given time ....
The local authorities can do that, but the FAA can only suspend license and issue fines. And there are likely no local laws broken here. Relooking at the video there is no incontrovertible proof there was any FAA rules broken. Was this outside 5 miles from and airport, if so then he did not break any altitude rule. How fast was he going. His video may have lied about the speed. Was it flying over traffic? Hard to be certain because the canopy may have distorted the view, but it looked like he was trying to turn before going over the highway. So looks like the only rule you could prove is taxing in the pits. But if he didn't have a waiver then that and his boosting about the speed is enough to pull his waiver. That and flying the drone beyond LOS is enough to suspend his AMA membership IMO.
But jail? Give me a break! Just extreme hyperbole that only hurts your case. Obvious hyperbole can help to highlight the issue but when it goes that far It doesn't help.