Wayward Aircraft Crashed At Louis Armstrong Stadium During U.S. Open

A high school teacher in New York City will be performing five hours of community service as a result of his UAV crashing at Louis Armstrong Stadium last month.

Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown announced the sentence in a news release. “Our investigation of the incident, which occurred during the night session at the U.S. Open on September 3, 2015, revealed that (New York City public school teacher Daniel) Verley – who has cooperated fully with the police regarding the incident and has no prior criminal record – never intended to allow his drone to fly into the stadium and that he, in fact, lost control of the drone. Fortunately, no one was injured as a result of this incident.

"However, we cannot rely on happenstance to protect the public. I urge hobbyists and other members of the public to use common sense when choosing to employ these unmanned vehicles – obtain the necessary permissions and only use these vehicles in areas deemed safe as the reckless use of unmanned model aircraft near locations where large groups of people assemble needlessly puts the lives and safety of people at risk.”

Verley, 26, of Jamaica, Queens, teaches science at the Academy of Innovative Technology in Brooklyn. Verley appeared before Queens Criminal Court Judge Michelle Armstrong and was ordered to perform five days of community service. If Verley satisfactorily completes his community service, which will be performed under the supervision of the District Attorney’s Alternative Sentencing Program, and lives a law-abiding life the charges against him will be dismissed in six months.

District Attorney Brown said that, according to the criminal complaint, Verley, who is also a professional photographer, went to Flushing Meadow-Corona Park at approximately 7:45 p.m. on September 3, 2015, to take pictures of the iconic Unisphere using his new 3DR Robotic drone. When he took the drone up for its second flight, the drone lost its signal and flew away from the Unisphere. The drone crashed into an unoccupied area of the Louis Armstrong Stadium during a second round U.S. Open match between Flavia Pennetta and Monica Niculescu.

(3DR quadcopter pictured in file photo. Not incident UAV)

FMI: http://www.queensda.org