A court fined a student S$5,000 on Monday (Oct. 10) for violating drone laws by flying a drone at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) to photograph his girlfriend and her friend.
Xu Zi Zhou, age 25, pled guilty to operating an unmanned aircraft without a valid activity permit within five kilometers of Tengah aerodrome. Two more charges pertaining to unmanned aircraft operations restrictions were considered.
The court heard that on May 28, 2021, Xu purchased a DJI Mavic Air 2 drone from the online retailer Shopee.
Xu, a Chinese national with a student permit, flew the 568.5g drone over the National University of Singapore, where he was enrolled.
Xu met his girlfriend and one of her friends in Yunnan Garden at NTU on June 1, 2021.
Xu took images and videos of his girlfriend and her friend using the drone.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) spotted the drone flying at a maximum altitude of 518.37 feet (158m) above mean sea level and within 5 kilometers of Tengah airport at around 4.30 p.m. that day.
CAAS personnel sent to Yunnan Garden spotted Xu flying the drone and requested that he land it.
According to the drone's flight logs, Xu had flown it five times that day for a total of 18 minutes.
According to CAAS rules, a Class 2 activity permit is necessary for unmanned aircraft operations conducted in varying outside environments. If the drone is to be used for recreational purposes and has a total mass of 25kg or less, if the flight is within 5km of any public airfield or military airbase, and if it is flown at a height above 200 feet above mean sea level.
CAAS would have compelled Xu to operate the drone in accordance with safe operating circumstances if he had sought for such a licence.
For operating an unmanned aircraft within 5 kilometers of Tengah airport without a valid activity authorization, Xu faced up to two years in prison, a fine of up to S$50,000, or both.
Comments