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Thursday, 1 January 2015

UK police briefly detain photojournalist

Police in the UK have briefly arrested a freelance photojournalist while he was flying a drone equipped with a camera near the British capital of London’s second-largest international airport.
Eddie Mitchell accused the police in southeast Surrey County of dangerous behavior as well as “idiocy and stupidity,” as they apprehended him near Gatwick airport while he was gathering imagery relating to a deadly fire near Lingfield, some 10 miles from the area.
Mitchell, who is certified to operate small unmanned aircraft, said his 1.2-kilogram unmanned aerial vehicle did not breach any of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) rules governing drone use.
“I identified myself to police officers at the scene and said that I would be putting a drone up,” he explained.
However, the police ordered him to get the drone down, and landed the vehicle after taking its control from Mitchell.
According to the photojournalist, the place he was working is part of the airport’s air traffic control zone, but is not a no-fly area.
The police released him without charge after about five hours in custody.
Mitchell intends to lodge complaints with the Independent Police Complaints Commission and the CAA this week.