United States: Two men from Massachusetts are facing charges for flying a drone too close to Logan International Airport in Boston. Police say the drone was flying “dangerously close” to the airport.
The men, Robert Duffy, 42, from Charlestown, Boston, and Jeremy Folcik, 32, from Bridgewater, were arrested late Saturday night on Long Island, which is near the airport. The arrest was made by the Boston Police Department.
“The incident began earlier that evening, at 4:30 PM, a Boston Police Officer involved in real time crime monitoring noted movement of an Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) in restricted airspace near Logan International Airport,” said police in a statement.
“Based on the sophisticated UAS monitoring, the Officer detected the drone coordinates, altitude, history of flight and operators’ location in Long Island.”
Long Island… several members of the Boston Police Harbor Patrol Unit were sent to Long Island and discovered three people inside the former Long Island Health Campus. As soon as they sought to establish physical contact, the suspects escaped on foot, police said.
As reported by the fox news, Duffy and Folcik were two of the three people caught and later identified. ‘During the investigation it was found that the devices included a drone which was concealed inside a backpack belonging to Duffy.’
Officials now think the third suspect left the island, which is one of the islands that make up the Boston Harbor Islands, in a “small boat.”
Duffy and Folcik are now charged to have trespassed but according to the Boston Police Department, more charges and fines are still possible.
Police also said as a result of the ‘potential dangers involved due to flying the drone next to Logan airport’ they informed The Department of Homeland Security, Massachusetts State Police, FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, Federal Communications Commission as well as the Logan airport Air Traffic Control.
Acting Police Commissioner in Boston wanders about the public to follow the set standards issued by the Federal Aviation Administration, especially by recreational drone users. It also said that operators may not fly drones over people or vehicles and ‘must know the no-fly zones.
This is the case even with small drones where they pose a lot of danger such as catastrophic damage to airplanes or helicopters. A near-encounter can lead pilots off their intended course, so the lives and properties of individuals are endangered.”