Drone pilot gets $1,900 fine for ‘complete disregard’ for the rules

A 36-year-old drone pilot has been fined nearly £1,500 ($1,900) by a UK court. The man was found to have been flying his DJI Mavic 2 drone recklessly near an airport while trying to film a rock music festival.

Almost 130,000 people descended on England’s Donington Park for the 20th-anniversary edition of Download Festival in June this year. They knew they would celebrate rock music over four days with headlining acts from Bring Me The Horizon, Slipknot, and Metallica. What they did not know was that Daniel Cesare would put them at risk by flying a drone above them, while being at a good 1,670 meters away from the festival site. Or that he would do this two days in a row.

“I wasn’t aware of the restrictions and laws. I should have researched more. It was a new hobby to me,” Cesare told the court last weekend.

But it didn’t help his case that Donington Park is located next to an airport and falls within its flight restriction zone. On one…