$28k worth of fines

[The Springs]

Port Kembla man faces $28k fine over low-flying drone

A warning for other recreational drone flyers.

www.illawarramercury.com.au

 

[Ansia]

Port Kembla man faces $28k fine over low-flying drone

A warning for other recreational drone flyers.

www.illawarramercury.com.au

Ouch. Sorry for the guy, but he had it coming if he did do low fly bys repeatedly.

 

[Shoot4fun]

Well, I personally have no sympathy for the guy. I'm constantly in contact with my neighbors about my drone flights with times, flightpath, expected altitude and duration. I'm out in the country, very rural farming community, but I still respect my neighbors. They appreciate it too. I've been asked to fly their properties numerous times, if for no other reason than to just see how pretty it is, and I always oblige. It's people like this guy that are giving us all a bad name. He got what he deserved, in my opinion!
I'm done now. Soapbox is open for the next person... ?

 

[smiller]

He was asking for it, not much sympathy.

It isn't always practical to obtain approval from every residence you might fly over but when overflying I always ensure that I maintain an altitude and speed so as to transit the property as quickly and unobtrusively as possible, and of course never loiter over private property for any reason.

 

[Shoot4fun]

He was asking for it, not much sympathy.

It isn't always practical to obtain approval from every residence you might fly over but when overflying I always ensure that I maintain an altitude and speed so as to transit the property as quickly and unobtrusively as possible, and of course never loiter over private property for any reason.

Exactly! I do have the good fortune to live where nearly everyone knows me. Those who don't are new to the area or "transplants" as we call them. I am able to get permission from nearly anyone I ask to fly over their property when necessary. I try to avoid it when I can, and living in a rural area makes it fairly easy. We have about 7500 acres between what we own and what we rent, scattered across 3 counties in central Missouri. Only place I can't fly is a piece of property we rent within 5 miles of the airfield on Fort Leonard Wood. Drone won't even spin a prop inside that red circle...

 

[Tim Haskins]

Port Kembla man faces $28k fine over low-flying drone

A warning for other recreational drone flyers.

www.illawarramercury.com.au

Well I think it’s pretty obvious that Glen Arthur Bingle’s intent is to invade privacy or to antagonize the property owner. 7 encounters? 5 meters = 16.4ft? I mean come on what’s this guy trying to accomplish with that ****? He’s lucky he still has his drone because I would have pool netted the darn thing and it would be a trophy on my mantle by now.

Now having said all that I think a 28k fine is kind of unrealistic and the guy probably couldn’t pay it even if he wanted to. I say fine the man 5k this time and 5k per incident from here on. At some point you have to ask yourself what is the purpose of the fine or punishment? Is the goal to totally ruin the guy or to curb his behavior in the future? I promise if you fine him 5k and now that he knows that this is for real he won’t ever do it again but popping a guy with almost 30k worth of fines could potentially destroy the guy.

The guy obviously done wrong. Give him a punishment that fits the crime and allow him to learn from his mistakes. I can promise you that there is more to this story and if we heard his side he would have a lot more to add. There’s no telling what these people have done to him to make him want to ram his drone down their throats. Lol

 

[Belichic's Haberdasher]

Sorry, I don't see a problem.

 

[Dennis Frantz]

Port Kembla man faces $28k fine over low-flying drone

A warning for other recreational drone flyers.

www.illawarramercury.com.au

I wonder what the burden of proof is for these offences? Did this offender have his day in court or does Civil Aviation Safety Authority just levy a fine. Does a prosecutor have to present evidence or does the CASA act as judge, jury and executioner? Is the drone pilot innocent until proven guilty or assumed to be guilty because the neighbor doesn’t like drones? And finally, does the Civil Aviation Safety Authority realize that their acronym means house in Spanish?

 

[Hornet Builder]

Always better to ask for permission, than beg for forgiveness!

 

[solentlife]

Report does not say what CASA fines amounted to ... it only gives the 28.5 as per Court later.

He returned letter - falsely

He refuses to pay

He pleads guilty

I would assume that like many Aviation regs - there may be a minimum fine situation ...

Sympathy ? Whats that old saying about word Sympathy being between two words in the Dictionary ?

 

[ribjig]

Are there similar laws-regulations for low flying in US?
What about "closeness limit" to sides of high rise residential buildings?

 

[dangerd]

People keep driving within 30m if my home in their cars, out on the street in front! Their cars are noisy and they are looking in my windows! I want this horrible intrusion to stop! They should all be fined $28,000.
Ridiculous! It’s an aircraft, it flies over things. If he was not trying to harass and bother the neighbors on purpose then tough luck for them. We all live with some things we don’t like. Personally I think that people who mow the lawn or blow leaves in the morning should be put to death, but I just live with them, that’s life! People need to learn tolerance.

 

[Buk]

While I have sided with the operator of the drone in these stories, my opinion is different based only what I’ve read in the account. This person need mental health assistance before something more serious occurs and the incident most likely will not involve a drone.

The fine is excessive and accomplishes nothing. The fine is just a CYA for the authority to say “we’ve done all we could”. They have done nothing and they are ill prepared to deal with the root issue(s) of the offender.

 

[grego122]

I THINK THEY ARE MAKING AN EXAMPLE OF HIM!
That simple.

 

[Phill2]

I think they should be fair and let him pay it off in jail.
$1/day sounds good.

 

[Phill2]

I THINK THEY ARE MAKING AN EXAMPLE OF HIM!
That simple.

CASA is getting serious - no example.

 

[The Springs]

Its cheaper being caught doing 45km/hr or more over the 40km/hr speed limit in a school zone with the possibly of injuring or killing groups of school kids .$2-$3k fine and loss of licence (I looked it up ) .
These CASA fines are ridiculously out of proportion to the offence .

 

[solentlife]

People keep driving within 30m if my home in their cars, out on the street in front! Their cars are noisy and they are looking in my windows! I want this horrible intrusion to stop! They should all be fined $28,000.
Ridiculous! It’s an aircraft, it flies over things. If he was not trying to harass and bother the neighbors on purpose then tough luck for them. We all live with some things we don’t like. Personally I think that people who mow the lawn or blow leaves in the morning should be put to death, but I just live with them, that’s life! People need to learn tolerance.

Maybe go back read how he was flying it ...

OK - I assume typical exaggeration on part of 'accusers' about how low and near he was flying ... but still - he repeatedly did it ... falsely returned CASA letter ... refused to pay etc. ..... admitted it !!

Why anyone now has sympathy defeats me ...

 

[Shoot4fun]

While I have sided with the operator of the drone in these stories, my opinion is different based only what I’ve read in the account. This person need mental health assistance before something more serious occurs and the incident most likely will not involve a drone.

The fine is excessive and accomplishes nothing. The fine is just a CYA for the authority to say “we’ve done all we could”. They have done nothing and they are ill prepared to deal with the root issue(s) of the offender.

I'd have to agree with you on that. Most of the time these incidents stem from something deeper. A wrong, whether it was intentional or not, real or not, has triggered the behavior. There's bad blood between the accused and the accuser. Someone who intentionally harassed another with a drone is not completely stable. I'm not the most sane person on the planet, but I can't see me doing something like that. Not saying it couldn't happen. I'm just saying my Grandma would come up outta her grave and snatch me bald-headed if I did it. Raising has a lot to do with your actions.

 

[solentlife]

I find it amazing that assumptions are creeping in ...

Bad Blood

Mental health issues

etc.

Some people are just ******** and act as though they can just do as they want. Its one of the main reasons rules come about.

The accusation is the the guy repeatedly flew in a manner not conducive to safe operations. He admitted doing so. QED