Fri, Nov 10, 2017
Aircraft Impacted The Top Of The Structure On New Year's Eve
The 20-year-old Pasco, WA man who was operating a drone that impacted the top of the Space Needle in Seattle on New Year's Eve 2016 has been charged with reckless endangerment, and faces a fine and jail time.
The Seattle Times reports that Cole Kelly was operating the drone that impacted an area near pyrotechnicians who were getting ready for a midnight fireworks show to ring in the new year. There were about a half-dozen people on top of the iconic structure when the incident occurred at about 1400 local time.
Dave Mandapat, a spokesman for the Space Needle, said that the structure was undamaged by the incident. The drone was recording video at the time of the crash.
Police allege Kelly violated federal law because he was operating the drone above 400 feet. According to a news release from the Seattle City Attorney's office, the Seattle Municipal Code ways a person is guilty of reckless endangerment "when he recklessly engages in conduct which creates a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury to another person.”
It is alleged in the current case that, when found, “One of the drone’s spinning blades was dangerously near wiring from one of the [pyrotechnics] boxes, one motor was well wrapped up in the strap, one blade had shattered, and the drone itself was kicking around threatening the wiring of the pyrotechnic devices.”
City Attorney Pete Holmes said in the release that this is the second time his office has charged reckless endangerment in a case in which the operator mishandled a drone, causing serious damage. In January this year a jury convicted an Oak Harbor man for his illegal operation of a drone at the Gay Pride Parade in 2015, in which a woman suffered a concussion.
Kelly is due in court on November 22.
(Image from YouTube video posted by GeekWire)
More News
Very High Frequency The frequency band between 30 and 300 MHz. Portions of this band, 108 to 118 MHz, are used for certain NAVAIDs; 118 to 136 MHz are used for civil air/ground voi>[...]
Aero Linx: Aviation Suppliers Association Established February 25, 1993, the Aviation Suppliers Association (ASA), based in Washington, D.C., is a not-for-profit association, repre>[...]
Have A Story That NEEDS To Be Featured On Aero-News? Here’s How To Submit A Story To Our Team Some of the greatest new stories ANN has ever covered have been submitted by our>[...]
From 2021 (YouTube Version): Colorado Campus Offers aVariety Of Aerospace Entertainment And Education Wings over the Rockies Exploration of Flight is the second location for the Wi>[...]
Also: Paramotor Champ's, Electric Ultralight, ICON BK Update, Burt Rutan at Oshkosh! The Popular Rotorcraft Association is reaching out for help in rebuilding their private runway >[...]