Safety concerns regarding drones continue with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA)'s current investigation in the recent flight of a remote-control aircraft over a soccer stadium in Nottinghamshire, England.
The investigation involves a drone enthusiast who used his aircraft to film videos over cities and said he thought he was following current rules for flying drones, according to BBC News. He posted his videos on his YouTube Channel Adventures, saying that he practiced flying his drone in empty spaces for months before taking it to cities.
Legislation regarding unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) states that owners of remote-controlled drones must keep their machines away from built-up areas by at least 150 meters. Drone users are also prohibited from flying them within 150m of a large gathering of people in open spaces. Jonathan Nicholson, spokesman for the CAA, said these rules apply to every drone user around the world.
"It doesn't matter if you are going to fly over the football ground. a park or anywhere else ... you should not fly any kind of drone within 150m of a built-up area," he said.
"The police [in Nottingham] did intercept somebody, and we are working with Nittinghamshire Police in an ongoing investigation."
Nottingham has had issues with drones before, BBC News reported. Nottinghamshire Police' Superintendent Mark Holland said drones had previously flown over games involving the Nottingham Forest and Notts County Football Clubs.
"Clearly we are concerned around public safety. These drones can weigh quite a number of kilos and once it's out of sight ... it could cause some problems," Holland said.
The man said he stopped flying his drone at the Nottingham Forest game when police approached him about it. He said, however, that there was another drone flying around at the match.
"I'm not saying problems can't happen but they are down to poor piloting. It's only like people driving a car badly," he said.
