Expensive photo: tourist issued a fine of $ 20,000 for shooting a drone

A fine of $14,700 and late fees that bring its volume to $20,000 will have to pay a tourist whose drone was caught at Las Vegas McCarran International Airport in June 2018.

Reuben Burciaga used his DJI Phantom 3 to film one of Las Vegas’ attractions, the High Roller Observation Wheel, but lost control of the drone. He started acting weird and just took off.

The drone landed at McCarran Airport, a few feet from the active runway, which was one of the reasons for the size of that fine - the "illegal" aircraft posed a danger to others.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), according to their own statement, not without difficulty found the owner of the drone - Burciaga received his drone along with a letter from the FAA about penalties.

The letter pointed to a number of violations, including flying a drone without permission in controlled airspace and endangering other aircraft.

The tourist admits that he deserved a fine, but believes that the sum is excessive. “I don’t have the money to fight it and I don’t even know how to deal with it.”

The FAA said it was a serious incident and the pilot committed many violations. “It was pure luck that the drone didn’t cause a collision or injure someone.”

Source: tourprom