American Tourist Caught by Police After Flying a Drone Over Windsor Castle

(Source: DailyMail)  

An American tourist has been given a warning by police after he flew a drone over Windsor Castle while the Queen was at home.

The model aircraft, a popular way of capturing aerial video, was spotted flying within 50 metres (164ft) of the historic building.

Officers from the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), not the local Thames Valley Police, guard the castle and a number of other Royal residences around the country.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: ‘Officers from the MPS stopped a man who was flying an unmanned aerial vehicle within 50 metres (164ft) of a building not under his control contrary to Civil Aviation Legislation.

‘The man was spoken to and advised of the legislation. No further action has been taken.’

An eyewitness to the incident told The Sun: ‘He wanted aerial video to put on YouTube. But he was told to destroy the footage.

‘The drone was huge, about 3ft long.’

Drones are becoming increasingly popular with tourists as a way of shooting aerial footage, but have been causing security alerts around the world.

Last month Japanese police arrested a man who admitted to landing a drone with low-level radioactive sand on the roof of the prime minister’s office to protest the government’s nuclear energy policy.

Tokyo’s metropolitan police said Yasuo Yamamoto, 40, turned himself in to authorities in Fukui in western Japan.

The small drone had traces of radiation and triggered fears of potential terrorist attacks using unmanned aerial devices, the prime ministers’ office has said. The infiltration at Japan’s political headquarters has also raised questions over the level of security there.

Paris was said to be on alert for a new terror attack after ‘at least’ five drones were spotted illegally flying around city landmarks, including the Eiffel Tower, Bastille Square and the U.S. embassy building back in February.
Unmanned aircraft were also spotted flying overnight near the French capital’s Place de la Concorde and the Invalides military museum, where Napoleon Bonaparte is buried.

French security sources where unable to catch the operators of the drones, which are typically fitted with video recording equipment and can be used for surveillance of a terror target to assess security levels and any spikes in pedestrian football ahead of a planned attack.

In January, a drone flown by an off-duty intelligence employee crashed on the White House grounds in the U.S.

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