“Reckless” – Drone Operators Flies Dangerously Close To Blue Angels 

What we’re about to show you is probably one of the most reckless and irresponsible videos uploaded to the internet by a clueless civilian drone operator.

During an America Strong flyover by the US Navy Blue Angels in Detroit, Michigan, on May 12, a civilian drone pilot flew his quadcopter dangerously close to the six F/A-18 Hornets as they flew over the city’s metro area.  

“The original video posted to YouTube included a number of different angles with the camera drone appearing momentarily in some of the shots. The final shot shows the Blue Angel six-aircraft wedge formation flying extremely close to the camera drone as they pass overhead at speed,” said The Aviationist.  

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJbGkpo0uEA?start=48]

The video was uploaded to a social media account called “@GIOLUCIA.” It has yet to be confirmed who the actual drone pilot is, but if caught by the Federal Aviation Administration, there would likely be severe fines and possible jail time. The video shows several potential violations: first, operating in controlled airspace that was shut down for the event, flying out of the line of sight, possibly breaching altitude height of 400 feet, and flying too close an aircraft. 

The Aviationist said this “could have ended in a midair collision” – which would have been absolutely devastating, considering the F-18s were flying in a tight formation over a densely populated metro area. 

Back in 2018, we showed another idiot drone operator ‘dive-bombing’ a commercial jetliner near the Vegas airport. 

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqbPf-mEf9Q]

These are the idiots that could one day cause an incident of some sort and result in the government grounding and or banning civilian drone use for recreational purposes. Let’s hope that never happens.