So Far It Is The Only Known Time The Sanction Has Been Imposed

Pilot David Quinones had a bad day last year on the 4th of July.

The commercial pilot was flying his UAV on the beach in Coney Island in Brooklyn, NY while the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest was underway.

And while Quinones says he was standing on a public beach flying over private property and not anywhere near the contest, police arrested him, confiscated his aircraft, and put him in jail for several hours, according to a report from the website Motherboard.

Quinones was never charged, and New York City eventually dismissed the ticket he was issued for the incident ... but it was not over even then.

In October of last year, Quinones got a letter from the FAA saying his commercial pilot's certificate was being suspended for three months, and he was ordered to surrender his pilot's license to an FAA attorney or face daily fines of $1,100.

It is reportedly the only time that the FAA has actually suspended someone's airman privileges for flying a drone, though that is one of the penalties listed in the FAA's regulations.

Quinones is also the cofounder of SkyCamUSA, an aerial photography company. He told Motherboard that he did not fight the suspension because he did not have the "money for a lawyer or time for this nonsense." He has been flying UAVs exclusively for international clients since his suspension. But he said the FAA "has been abusing their powers. They’ve been finding people where fines aren’t due, changing things left and right. They’re like a bully on the block pushing their agenda.”

The FAA would not comment specifically on the case, but did cite Order 2150.3B which in its 336 pages does give the agency the authority to suspend manned airman privileges for UAV violations.

FMI: Order 2050.3B