Don’t try to catch an aerial view of Pope Francis during his visit to DC this week. The FAA just issued a reminder that it could pursue “criminal or civil charges” against anyone flying unmanned aircraft around the city, including radio-controlled models.
The ban also applies to New York and Philadelphia.
Much of the Washington area is already off-limits to drones, though the occasional gyrocopter somehow manages to make it through our air defenses. In May, the US declined to prosecute a man who accidentally crashed a drone on the White House grounds in January.
That said: Leave the drone at home. Here’s a helpful video.
Our most popular stories of the week, sent every Saturday.
Andrew Beaujon joined Washingtonian in late 2014. He was previously with the Poynter Institute, TBD.com, and Washington City Paper. His book A Bigger Field Awaits Us: The Scottish Soccer Team That Fought the Great War was published in 2018. He lives in Del Ray.
Don’t Even Think of Using a Drone to Try to See the Pope
Don’t try to catch an aerial view of Pope Francis during his visit to DC this week. The FAA just issued a reminder that it could pursue “criminal or civil charges” against anyone flying unmanned aircraft around the city, including radio-controlled models.
The ban also applies to New York and Philadelphia.
Much of the Washington area is already off-limits to drones, though the occasional gyrocopter somehow manages to make it through our air defenses. In May, the US declined to prosecute a man who accidentally crashed a drone on the White House grounds in January.
That said: Leave the drone at home. Here’s a helpful video.
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Our most popular stories of the week, sent every Saturday.
Andrew Beaujon joined Washingtonian in late 2014. He was previously with the Poynter Institute, TBD.com, and Washington City Paper. His book A Bigger Field Awaits Us: The Scottish Soccer Team That Fought the Great War was published in 2018. He lives in Del Ray.
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