WINDSOR, ONT. -- A 33-year-old Wallaceburg man has been charged by Transport Canada and fined $250 after police say he was flying it over a fatal crash scene and near the Ornge air ambulance.
Chatham-Kent police were investigating the crash on Dufferin Ave in Wallaceburg on April 3, shortly after 10 p.m.
Police say the man observed the locked-down scene and deployed a remotely piloted aircraft, or drone, to video the scene from the air.
Officers say the drone operator flew the drone alongside the ambulance on the way to Sydenham District Hospital and continued as the patient was brought inside.
Ornge air ambulance was en-route and flying toward the hospital. Police say the drone was in the air only a short distance from the helicopter landing site.
This video was uploaded to YouTube along with several other videos taken by the drone. Police were made aware of the video and a drone operator with the CKPS Unmanned Aerial System Unit, was assigned to investigate.
In partnership with Transport Canada, the drone operator was identified and interviewed.
As a result of the investigation, the Wallaceburg man has been charged by Transport Canada with contravening section 901.02 of the Canadian Aviation Regulations – operating a remotely piloted aircraft system without it being registered and issued a $250 fine.
CKPS drone operator, Const. Josh Flikweert reminds drone operators, “with the advent of small, affordable drones, more people are flying them, resulting in an increased number of remotely piloted aircraft in the air.”
“Drone operators should be aware that there are a number of rules and regulations that dictate how and where the drones can be flown,” he adds.
Flikweert says it is your responsibility to familiarize yourself with these before you fly your drone.
“Non-compliance will be investigated and you may be issued a fine or lose your license to fly,” says Flikweert. “These guidelines are there to keep everyone safe so that we all can enjoy having these aircraft in the air.”
