Federal Police in Red Deer, Alberta have seized a DJI Mavic Pro drone as part of their investigation into whether the recreational quadcopter was flown in the path of an in-flight Air Ambulance helicopter.
Heavy handed drone regulations, brought into force on March 13th by Transport Minister Marc Garneau, mean that violators who operate their drones unsafely or within 9km of “anywhere an aircraft lands” can face fines up to $3000 (Cdn). Commercial drone operators can be fined up to $15,000.
The new rules, which replace previous guidelines that were considered nothing more than etiquette, were brought in to put a halt to a wild-west mentality among inexperienced and unregistered drone operators while the government consults with industry and users to carefully craft sensible regulations that will be released in the future.
The C$1300 DJI Mavic Pro drone is a compact foldable quadcopter that can be remotely controlled by it’s pilot up to 7km away from the remote control (Canadian regulations prohibit flight distance greater than 500m from the operator). China’s DJI Global dominates the recreational drone market with it’s popular Phantom 3 and Phantom 4 series of drones that were predecessors to the Mavic Pro.
You can read the full story on the DJI Mavic Pro incident in Red Deer on the CBC website.