WASHINGTON -At 1:20 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 9 the United States Park Police and United States Secret Service responded to an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), or drone, spotted flying in the vicinity of the Washington Monument. Flying any kind of UAS or drone anywhere in Washington, D.C. or in national parks is illegal.
Officers from both agencies made contact with the operator after the individual lost control of the drone and it landed on the Ellipse. The United State Park Police issued Howard Solomon III, from Washington, D.C., a citation and confiscated the drone and other equipment used to operate it.
United States Secret Service located the F182 6 Axis Quadcopter on the Ellipse, just inside the entrance at 16th St. and Constitution Ave. and turned it over to the United States Park Police.
Federal law prohibits flying all unmanned aircraft, more commonly called drones, in the heavily regulated Flight Restricted Zone around Washington, D.C., including from private property inside the FRZ. Additionally, launching, landing, or operating unmanned aircrafts is prohibited in all areas administered by the National Park Service. Know Before You Fly! To learn more visit https://www.faa.gov/uas/no_drone_zone/dc/.
This is the ninth incident involving illegal operation of an unmanned aircraft system in a Greater Washington area national park in 2015, and the 26th since 2013.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
