FAA targets reckless drone pilots with fines totaling $341K

By Trevor Mogg Published August 27, 2024

Quadcopters like those built by industry leader DJI have sold in the millions in recent years, and while most folks fly their remote-controlled machines responsibly and without issue, there are always some who flout the rules.

As part of ongoing efforts to enforce safety in the skies and to notify pilots that there will be severe penalties if they fly their device recklessly, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said recently that between October 2022 and June 2024, it has proposed civil penalties against 27 drone operators totaling a colossal $341,413, DroneDJ reported.

In a particularly concerning case in Florida in 2021 that resulted in a $32,700 proposed penalty, a drone pilot flew his machine so close to a helicopter belonging to the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office that the pilot had to take evasive action to avoid a collision. It emerged later that the drone pilot had failed to correctly register the device and had flown it higher than the permitted 400 feet, among other violations.

Breaking the rules by flying drones near or directly over sports stadiums during a major event appears to be a popular act among rogue pilots. One operator, for example, received a $16,000 fine for piloting their drone near SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, during Super Bowl LVI in February 2022.

The FAA has long banned drone flights from locations like airports, military bases, and critical infrastructure such as nuclear power plants, and strict measures are usually deployed for specific events where large crowds gather, such as major sports games.

“Violating the drone regulations puts lives at risk in the air and on the ground,” FAAAdministrator Mike Whitaker said recently. “Flying a small drone means you are flying an aircraft, and unsafe behavior will cost you.”

For drone pilots who aren’t sure about where they can fly their machine, the FAA’s B4UFLY app for iOS and Android is a useful tool.