The White House hours after the drone crash.
Photo by William Hicks
WASHINGTON — 2014 was the year of White House fence jumpers. Now in 2015, trespassing in the White House has become mechanized, much to the chagrin of the Secret Service.
Early Monday morning a small unmanned drone, a two-foot quadcopter, was found on the White House lawn by Secret Service agents and quickly removed. According to the Secret Service, the drone posed no threat to President Barack Obama, who is in India, and the owner of the drone remains unknown.
“I’m a great admirer of the president and his family,” said Donna Dees, who was visiting Washington from New York City and had stopped outside the White House to take a look at the presidential home. “It’s scary this drone could get so close to where they lived.”
The Federal Aviation Administration classifies drones as aircraft that require a special permit to be flown in public airspace, unless they are model aircraft being used for recreational purposes. But regardless of permitting, flying drones over the White House remains strictly illegal.
The drone found on the White House lawn.
Courtesy of the Secret Service
“They are toys for adults, they’re stupid,” said Neil Cousins at the anti-nuclear peace tent in front of the White House. “They’re dangerous and can’t be relied on.”
Even an organization that lobbies for citizens’ rights to fly drones had stern words for the drone flyer.
“Flying any aircraft around the White House is a serious violation of the restricted and prohibited airspace in Washington, D.C…” said Brian Wynne, president of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International. “We hope the individual or individuals responsible are found and held accountable.”
Jeff Commissaris was crossing through Washington while hitchhiking across the country when he heard the news of the drone. While he was shocked that a drone could be flown onto the White House lawn, he said there was hypocrisy in the way the government regulates drones, referring to the U.S. drone strikes in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
“The government says, ‘Don’t do as we do, do as we say,’” Commissaris said. “If they’re gonna do it, they shouldn’t tell us not to.”
As consumer drones sales increase and people like Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos look for more ways to integrate drones into society, the FAA has been charged with creating regulations to allow commercial use of drones in U.S. airspace this year.
“We have politicians arguing over deflated footballs like it’s a relevant issue,” Cousins said. “Something should be done about these drones.”
