Australian Drone Pilots Face Fines, Jail For Whale Overflights | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-04.28.25

Airborne-NextGen-04.29.25

AirborneUnlimited-04.30.25

Airborne-Unlimited-05.01.25

AirborneUnlimited-05.02.25

Wed, Aug 02, 2017

Australian Drone Pilots Face Fines, Jail For Whale Overflights

New Regulations Set To Go Into Effect August 25

Australian drone pilots who fly less than 100 meters (approx. 328 feet) over a migrating whale could face large fines and jail time under new regulations that go into effect August 25.

The legislation is aimed at protecting the massive marine mammals from any disturbance, according to a report from The Manly Daily newspaper. Drones will be limited to a 100 meter floor and a 122 meter (approx. 400 feet) ceiling under the law.

The National Parks and Wildlife Service classifies any drone as an aircraft, which is not allowed to fly within 300 meters (approx. 985 feet) from a whale or dolphin. So if a drone pilot were to try to photograph any such animal from directly overhead, they would be in violation of the 122 meter ceiling imposed for drone flights.

The potential fines are $110,000 and two years in jail.

A spokeswoman for the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service said that the changes in the law “recognizes advances in drone technology and that their popularity is increasing."

FMI: www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au

Advertisement

More News

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (04.30.25)

Aero Linx: Aviators Code Initiative (ACI) Innovative tools advancing aviation safety and offering a vision of excellence for aviators. The ACI materials are for use by aviation pra>[...]

ANN FAQ: Turn On Post Notifications

Make Sure You NEVER Miss A New Story From Aero-News Network Do you ever feel like you never see posts from a certain person or page on Facebook or Instagram? Here’s how you c>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: Agile Aero’s Jeff Greason--Disruptive Aerospace Innovations

From 2016 (YouTube Edition): Who You Gonna Call When You Have a Rocket Engine that Needs a Spacecraft? While at EAA AirVenture 2016, ANN CEO and Editor-In-Chief, Jim Campbell, sat >[...]

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (04.30.25)

"In my opinion, if this isn't an excessive fine, I don't know what is... The odds are good that we're gonna be seeking review in the United States Supreme Court. So we gotta muster>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (04.30.25): Expedite

Expedite Used by ATC when prompt compliance is required to avoid the development of an imminent situation. Expedite climb/descent normally indicates to a pilot that the approximate>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC