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Drone pilot charged with violating airspace over two NFL games

  
Published May 16, 2019 07:50 PM
FRANCE-BRITAIN-EUROPE-MIGRANTS-SECURITY

A cross Channel ferry sail in the background as a drone used by the French border police takes off during a patrol of the beaches at Tardinghen near the northern port city of Calais on April 4, 2019. - Since the end of October 2018, the French and British authorities have been facing an upsurge in illegal Channel crossings from France to Britain by migrants and refugees. A plan by the French government implemented at the start of the year which stepped-up police patrols around ports, as well as surveillance of beaches where dinghies have been launched from, has seen a drop in crossing attempts according to the prefecture of Pas-de-Calais on April 4, 2019. (Photo by Denis Charlet / AFP) (Photo credit should read DENIS CHARLET/AFP/Getty Images)

AFP/Getty Images

A Northern California man has been charged with violating airspace restrictions by flying a drone over a pair of NFL games in 2017.

According to Alex Johnson and Andrew Blankstein of NBC News, Tracy Michael Mapes of North Highlands, Calif. was officially charged on Tuesday after he flew a drone over Bay Area games in November 2017 to drop anti-media flyers.

The two games he created an incursion over were between the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium and the Denver Broncos and Oakland Raiders at the Oakland Coliseum.

The temporary flight restrictions prohibit all aircraft from operating within three nautical miles of any stadium seating at least 30,000. The restrictions are in effect from one hour before to one hour after the end of the event.

Authorities tracked the drone flight back to Mapes, who was piloting the craft via an iPad and had recorded images over the games saved on its hard drive.