ELOM:2023:022 | Drone flight during Remembrance Day | North Holland
Decision: 20 September 2023 PPS North Holland
Aviation case category: Unmanned aviation
Formal links: -/-
Content indication: Settlement proposal for flying without licence in a specific category and not registering as operator not accepted. Sentencing by the court in line with prosecution's demand.
PPS Decision
in the case against the owner and driver of a drone, referred to below as the suspect.
Reason for the investigation
The investigation was launched following the detection of a drone.
Suspected offence
Violation of Article 5(1) and Article 14(5) of Regulation 2019/947 (failure to meet the conditions for the open category respectively failure to meet the registration requirement).
Facts and circumstances
Based on the police report, the prosecution believes it can be established that on 4 May 2023, before and after the Remembrance ceremony, the suspect flew a drone in the area [address] in Amsterdam. It had flown above a gathering of people and (partly because of this) the drone was also not kept at a safe distance. Nor did the suspect appear to have had a continuous view of the drone. This did not meet all the conditions for flying in the open category, while the suspect did not have an operating licence for flying in the specific category.
The suspect was flying a 249-gram drone equipped with a camera (DJI Mini 3 Pro). The drone is the suspect's property. The suspect failed to comply with the obligation to register as an operator.
The suspect acknowledged the offences. He stated that he had relied on the information in the drone app, which did not indicate that it was a restricted area, and had forgotten that it was Remembrance Day.
Decision
On 14 July 2023, the prosecution ruled that there was sufficient evidence for both offences. The Guidelines for Prosecution under Aviation Legislation and Regulations prescribe a fine of €250 as a starting point for flying without a licence in the specific category, noting that due to the wide variety of situations in which flights are flown, case-specific solutions are required. Failure to register as an operator is subject to a fine of €100.
Although, in the prosecution's view, there were aggravating circumstances in themselves (flying over a gathering of people before and after Remembrance Day), they were waived because the suspect's drone was confiscated for longer than necessary.
The suspect was therefore offered a settlement of €250 for flying in the specific category and €100 for failing to comply with the registration requirement.
As the suspect did not accept the settlement offer, it was decided on 20 September 2023 to summon the suspect to the aviation hearing on 15 December 2023. The suspect stated at the hearing that he wanted to pay the settlement, but did not have the money to do so at the time. He had stopped flying and was no longer registered as an operator because he wanted to sell his drone. In view of this, the public prosecutor demanded that the suspect be sentenced to a fine of €250 or, alternatively, five days of substitute custody for flying in the specific category and to a wholly conditional fine of €100 for not registering as an operator. The court sentenced the suspect in accordance with that demand.