Destinations knownHow drones can ruin your holiday: the buzzing eyes in the sky are even more annoying than selfie sticks
- The small unmanned aerial systems that revolutionised warfare also have the power to spoil your vacation, whether you are the pilot or not
- Recent arrests, as well as grounded flights and flying bans illustrate the impact the divisive devices can have
Forget the selfie stick, there is an even more irritating menace to modern travellers; one that has the power to ground flights, ruin holidays and make a persona non grata of its handler.
Whether over a remote Thai beach or one of Sri Lanka’s national parks, the distinctive buzz of a small unmanned aerial system (sUAS) will infuriate even the most happy-go-lucky of holiday-goers, eliciting expletives and making middle fingers stiffen as it hovers overhead. American space agency Nasa has even studied what it calls “the annoyance generated by sUAS noise”, concluding, unsurprisingly, that people find the sound of a drone rather irritating.
On March 17, The Times of India reported that 34-year-old Chinese tourist Li Zhiwei had been arrested in Kolkata for flying a drone around the city’s Victoria Memorial. Although the use of such gadgets is widely permitted in India, there are a number of no-drone zones – near airports, international borders, military complexes and government buildings – and Li’s remotely piloted photographic device had infiltrated the airspace of one of these.
“He has violated the Aircraft Act that specifically says no one can fly an object within 3km of a military base,” said the lawyer for the prosecution in court. Despite pleading ignorance, Li’s misdemeanour landed him eight days in custody.
Lest that not be lesson enough, Frenchman Arthur Desclaux was sentenced to one month with hard labour in a Myanmese prison in February for bringing his device into the country without a licence and for sending it soaring over parliament. Quel idiot!
