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Man Sentenced for 2022 Drone Incident at Bengals Game, NFL Implements Policy Change
by DRONELIFE Staff Author Ian M. Crosby
In line with a report by the Cincinnati Enquirer, this past Monday a person from Springfield Township was sentenced for flying an unauthorized drone over a Cincinnati Bengals Wildcard playoff game at PayCor Stadium on January fifteenth of last 12 months.
In line with Judge Matthew McFarland, the incident wherein the drone was flown over players and parts of the gang was one in every of the primary of its kind within the U.S. Officials stated that the event led to a policy change by the NFL that may see teams stop a game and clear the sphere in response to an identical occurrence.
“It is a recent and emerging safety issue that (the NFL is) taking seriously,” said McFarland while addressing 25-year-old Dailon Dabney, who pleaded guilty in March to a charge related to flying the drone. Dabney was sentenced to at least one 12 months of probation and ordered to finish 40 hours of unpaid community service, and has already forfeited the DJI Mavic Air 2 drone, which might cost over $1,000. Dabney said in court that he posted the video taken from the drone “attempting to get more content” on his YouTube channel to realize subscribers and earn more cash.
Dabney was one in every of two men charged in federal court last 12 months with drone-related crimes committed at local sports stadiums. The opposite, Travis Lenhoff, flew a drone over Great American Ballpark on Opening Day in 2022. Lenhoff also pleaded guilty last March, and was sentenced to at least one 12 months of probation last month. Each men pleaded guilty to violating a short lived flight restriction, which is a misdemeanor. In each cases, no unauthorized drones were permitted to fly in the world from one hour before to at least one hour after the games. The FAA reminded pilots of the rule on X (formerly Twitter) yesterday:
Drone pilots, from 1 hour before until 1 hour after an @NFL, @MLB, NCAA Div. 1 Football, @NASCAR Cup, @IndyCar, or Champ Series regular or post-season event, flying inside 3 miles of the stadium is PROHIBITED. Study drone rules at https://t.co/RyEEJK0QK7.
— FAADroneZone (@FAADroneZone) September 12, 2023
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