Fri, Mar 20, 2015
FAA Reviewing The Incident For Possible Administrative Action
The federal government will not press charges against the operator of a UAV that crashed on the White House Lawn in January.
In a statement released by Wednesday, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia said that the decision "was made following an investigation by the United States Secret Service and a review of applicable law. The Federal Aviation Administration has begun a review of the incident for possible administrative action.”
SUAS News reports that the attorney for Shawn Usman, the person who was operating the aircraft when it got away from him and flew towards the White House, said that Usman is "pleased and grateful" for the U.S. Attorney's determination. “This entire incident, while unfortunate and understandably alarming, was totally inadvertent and completely unintentional,” attorney James M. Garland said in a written statement. “Mr. Usman wishes to express his sincere apologies to all those affected – especially to the president and his family, as well as to those responsible for ensuring their safety.”
Garland said Usman will cooperate with the FAA on its investigation, and “looks forward to putting this difficult episode behind him.”
The U.S. Attorney said that its investigation found that Usman "had borrowed the quadcopter drone from a friend and had it at his apartment in downtown Washington, D.C. According to an interview with the man, he flew it around his apartment and outside his window late Jan. 25 and early Jan. 26, 2015. Around 3 a.m., the drone was outside over 10th Street when he saw it ascend to an altitude of about 100 feet and head in a westerly direction. He tried to regain control over it, but to no avail. He called his friend, who was unable to advise him how to gain control over the drone.
“The man knew that the drone’s battery was nearing the end of its charge and expected that it would crash somewhere over the Mall. He went to sleep not knowing where the drone had gone. After he awoke to news reports of the crash on the White House grounds, he self-reported the incident to the Secret Service.
"A forensic analysis of the drone determined that it was not operating under the direction of its controller when it crashed at the White House," the statement said.
(Secret Service image)
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