Canadian imprisoned after flying Drone in Cuba!

White Airwolf · Oct 15, 2016

This guy should have stayed in solitary confinement. He was imprisoned for 13 days before being released.
It was totally his fault for not checking not only on Cuban regulation, but general flight laws such as flying over roads, people etc.
He clearly had no understanding of this and idiots like this could kill our industry for good!
Makes one wonder how many other people like him are flying drones without the basic knowledge of flying laws and country regulations.

Tourist Spends 13 Days in a Cuban Prison for Flying His Drone in Havana

The_Learning_Curve · Oct 15, 2016

The majority of people have no idea there are regulations and rules even for hobbyists. Until there is a mainstream public awareness campaign on safety and ethics this will be pretty common. Most of the people I approach with a drone service are unaware of rules existing and potential safety hazards.

This guy learned the hard way, just not about the safety hazards unfortunately

Docman22 · Oct 15, 2016

There will be a drone in every household by Christmas this year, with all the new releases. No matter your nationality, there will always be people that are clueless and irresponsable and they are no where near professionals. As for the future of our sport, well I think it will disappear very soon if this keeps going on.

William Gaddy · Oct 15, 2016

Gee, what could POSSIBLY go wrong? LOL. Well, he's d***n lucky he got out so quickly.

licensed pilot · Oct 15, 2016

Too bad they let him go. He'll do it again.

RaptorMan · Oct 15, 2016

The_Learning_Curve said:
The majority of people have no idea there are regulations and rules even for hobbyists. Until there is a mainstream public awareness campaign on safety and ethics this will be pretty common. Most of the people I approach with a drone service are unaware of rules existing and potential safety hazards.

This guy learned the hard way, just not about the safety hazards unfortunately

OK, so who wants to send Casey Neistat a plane ticket to Cuba?

Brian

Alastair · Oct 17, 2016

RaptorMan said:
OK, so who wants to send Casey Neistat a plane ticket to Cuba?

Brian

Really, that guy breaks all the rules anytime he flys!

Paul K · Oct 19, 2016

licensed pilot said:
Too bad they let him go. He'll do it again.

You must be very proud of that statement.

licensed pilot · Oct 19, 2016

Paul K said:
You must be very proud of that statement.

William Gaddy · Oct 20, 2016

Instead of chipping in to send him a plane ticket back to Cuba, I would contend such monies would be better spent getting him a nose job. With that enormous beak, it's little wonder he lost sight of, and lost, his Mavic.

Tommy Bayshore · Oct 22, 2016

Every person operating a drone needs to pass the 107 if you ask me. "Hobbyists" are going to destroy this industry for those of us who make money off of it. And at the end of the day, why would a hobbyist be against it, you just have to study and become aware of important rules, all it can do is educate people. If your caught flying without a 107 then your drone is confiscated, i bet people would be all over the 107 if that happened.

Tom in PA · Oct 22, 2016

Overseas, we're sometimes referred to as "Ugly Americans." When I lived in Germany I was often embarrassed by tourists from the U-S barging loudly around (think Donald Trump behavior) actually complaining that the locals "don't speak English." The guy imprisoned in Cuba ought to have his passport revoked.

Anders Andersson · Oct 22, 2016

White Airwolf said:
This guy should have stayed in solitary confinement. He was imprisoned for 13 days before being released.
It was totally his fault for not checking not only on Cuban regulation, but general flight laws such as flying over roads, people etc.
He clearly had no understanding of this and idiots like this could kill our industry for good!
Makes one wonder how many other people like him are flying drones without the basic knowledge of flying laws and country regulations.

Tourist Spends 13 Days in a Cuban Prison for Flying His Drone in Havana

We´ll have swedes going to prison here to soon, as the high court ruled camera equipped drones illegal yesterday...

Parker · Oct 22, 2016

Tommy Bayshore said:
Every person operating a drone needs to pass the 107 if you ask me. "Hobbyists" are going to destroy this industry for those of us who make money off of it. And at the end of the day, why would a hobbyist be against it, you just have to study and become aware of important rules, all it can do is educate people. If your caught flying without a 107 then your drone is confiscated, i bet people would be all over the 107 if that happened.

In Canada there is no such thing as a 107. We do have a suggested ground school course and UAV training centers, which helps when applying for an SFOC (permission to fly commercially). But hobbyists have the same problem here.